Havoc (2005)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
Wealthy Los Angeles teenagers seeking to emulate hip hop culture find themselves in dangerous situations when they venture into the local drug scene.
The story
The film follows the lives of wealthy Los Angeles teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle and engage in slum tourism. The story centers on Allison Lang and her friends as they venture into East Los Angeles. They encounter a gang of drug dealers and find themselves in a situation where they realize they are not as street-wise as they had thought. The narrative explores the consequences of their actions as they attempt to navigate a world that is far more dangerous than their privileged upbringing prepared them for.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Teenage filmmaker Eric documents the lives of Allison Lang and her boyfriend Toby's group of wealthy teenagers in the Pacific Palisades. After a party, Allison and her friends travel to East Los Angeles to purchase drugs from a dealer named Hector. After a tense confrontation where Toby is threatened by Hector's crew, the group later attends a party with them. Allison becomes fascinated by the inner-city lifestyle after being briefly detained by police. Later, Allison and her friend Emily visit a motel where Hector's crew hangs out. They are subjected to a bizarre initiation involving a game of dice that leads to a traumatic encounter for Emily. Following a police investigation where Emily accuses the gang of rape, the two groups of teenagers—the wealthy locals and the drug dealers—become aware of each other's presence. The film concludes with a tense standoff between the two groups in a driveway, ending with the sounds of a gunshot.
- Original title
- The Powers That Be
- First release year
- 2005
- Runtime (minutes)
- 85
- Production countries
- United States; Germany
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Barbara Kopple
- Writers
- Stephen Gaghan · screenplay; Stephen Gaghan · story; Jessica Kaplan · story
- Cast and characters
- Anne Hathaway · Allison; Bijou Phillips; Mike Vogel; Shiri Appleby; Freddy Rodriguez; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Channing Tatum; Michael Biehn
- Genres
- crime drama; independent; teen drama
- Themes
- Slum tourism; Class disparity; Identity; Consequences of peer pressure
- Tone and mood
- harrowing; authentic
- Premise and plot tags
- crime; drama; teen; independent
- Source material / true-story basis
- Original script by Jessica Kaplan
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews, with some critics praising the lead performance and others criticizing the narrative as a cliché. It holds a 45% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Production trivia
- The original script was written by Jessica Kaplan when she was 14 years old.; Mandy Moore was originally cast as Allison but dropped out due to the subject matter.; The film was originally titled 'The Powers That Be'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…