Haunting ‘Young Ones’ leaves audience thirsty

  • By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
  • Wednesday, October 29, 2014 3:26pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

The old post-apocalyptic shuffle is alive in “Young Ones,” but this catastrophe is more credible than most such speculations. The problem here is water, which has evaporated, at least in this corner of the world.

Patriarch Ernest Holm (Michael Shannon) trades trinkets in exchange for supplies, and just manages to keep hold of his “farm” — a patch of brown desert — in hope that the soil needs only the rain to come back. But the film’s real attention is on the next generation, played by a trio of child stars aging into young adulthood.

Holm’s patient son Jerome (Kodi Smit-McPhee, “Let Me In”) and resentful daughter Mary (Elle Fanning) must negotiate their future with the ambitious Flem Lever (Nicholas Hoult, “Warm Bodies”). Ernest isn’t crazy about Flem hanging around with Mary, for reasons that turn out to be pretty well-founded.

“Young Ones” makes nods toward science fiction with its “Mad Max” fashion sense, its filling stations — for water, not gasoline — and its four-legged robot/beast of burden. Beyond that, writer-director Jake Paltrow is content to rely on the traditions of the Western and a visual approach that seems to be aiming somewhere between the worlds of Terrence Malick and Paul Thomas Anderson.

The tone is grim and the look is arty; the story lines stick out in random directions. Overall, it’s a mess, with its biggest fault the failure to color in the sole female character of significance — an especially unforgivable failing with Elle Fanning coming off the remarkable “Ginger &Rosa” and “Maleficent.”

If it’s a misfire, though, “Young Ones” at least conjures up some haunting stuff along the way. The bleak dystopian landscape (shot in South Africa) helps, and so does an intriguing and sometimes stirring score by Nathan Johnson.

Hoult’s streak of smiling untrustworthiness — currently flowering in Jaguar commercials — is put to good use here, and Paltrow photographs Smit-McPhee as though he were the young Abraham Lincoln, all gangly limbs and soulful eyes.

Left unexplored is the brother-sister relationship that the film only belatedly comes around to (and speaking of that, yes, Jake Paltrow is the brother of Gwyneth). It’s not quite odd enough to be a future cult film, but at least this movie lingers in the mind.

“Young Ones” (2½ stars)

In the post-apocalypse, the world is starved for water, but a farmer (Michael Shannon) believes his patch of land will someday bounce back. This uneven but sometimes haunting movie focuses on the younger generation, with a trio of former child stars: Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning, Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Rating: R, for violence, language

Showing: Grand Illusion theater

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.