Review: The Darkest Minds

Even before its first frame, The Darkest Minds is already a chore. Yet another in the seemingly never-ending factory line of dark teen fantasy thrillers that reached their sell-by date at least three years ago when the the final entry for The Hunger Games trilogy was released, this latest YA adaptation features Amandla Stenberg, who had her breakthrough as Prue in the original Hunger Games film.

It has been six years since a mysterious pandemic called IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration) wiped out 90% of the nation's children and left the rest with enhanced abilities or out and out superpowers. The adults round up the survivors and place them in heavily guarded internment camps where they are categorised by colours based on their powers - blues and greens are the most harmless, but oranges and reds are the most dangerous and therefore killed on sight. Except for Ruby (Stenberg), who uses her powers of mind control to disguise herself as a green kid, but her cover will soon be blown.

Sympathetic Dr. Cate Connor (Mandy Moore), who turns out to be working with the anti-government The Children's League, helps Ruby escape, though Ruby soon escapes her company and finds herself with a group of fellow survivors Liam (Harris Dickinson), Chubs (Skylan Brooks), and Zu (Miya Cech). The quartet are soon dodging "tracers," bounty hunters like Lady Jane (Gwendoline Christie), as they make their way to a safe haven where kids like them are relatively protected from the outside world. Ruby and Liam's blossoming attraction is soon threatened by Clancy (Patrick Gibson), the only other Orange who has survived and who also happens to be the president's son. Of course, the fate of the world rests upon Ruby's young shoulders.

There isn't anything particularly noteworthy about The Darkest Minds, which cycles through the genre tropes with efficiency if not any remarkable creativity. It's difficult to invest in any of the characters, especially since the screenwriters are obviously establishing this film as the first in a potential series, and therefore one can assume that characters such as the president or Dr. Connor will be more fleshed out in the coming installments. This eye for the future also results in the film feeling quite underdeveloped. The usual self-empowerment message rings through due to Stenberg's solid playing, but it's not enough to warrant any further looks at this specific dystopian world.

The Darkest Minds

Directed by: Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Written by: Chad Hodge; based on the novel by Alexandra Bracken

Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Mandy Moore, Bradley Whitford, Gwendoline Christie, Harris Dickinson, Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech, Patrick Gibson