White Noise (2022)
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A niche academic's life is upended when an environmental disaster forces his family into a quarantine camp.
The story
Set in 1984, the film follows Jack Gladney, a professor of "Hitler studies" at the College-on-the-Hill in Ohio, and his wife Babette. Their lives are disrupted when a truck carrying toxic chemicals collides with a train, releasing a cloud of waste known as an "Airborne Toxic Event." This disaster forces a massive evacuation and a traffic jam, leading the Gladneys to be exposed to the cloud. The family is subsequently forced into quarantine at a summer camp, where they must navigate the dangers of survivalists and the looming threat of health complications.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1984, Jack Gladney, a professor of "Hitler studies" in Ohio, lives with his fourth wife Babette and their blended family. Their lives are upended by an "Airborne Toxic Event" caused by a chemical truck crash. After being exposed to the toxic cloud, the family is quarantined at a summer camp. While there, Jack is given a pistol to defend against survivalists. After a harrowing escape from the camp, they return home to find Babette lethargic and Jack hallucinating a man. Babette reveals she joined a clinical trial for a drug to treat death anxiety and began having sex with a man named "Mr. Gray" to continue receiving it. Jack, driven by his own fear of death, tracks down Mr. Gray—who is the man from his hallucinations—at a motel. Jack shoots him, but Babette arrives and shoots both of them. They eventually take the wounded Mr. Gray to a hospital run by German atheist nuns, where they reconcile. The film ends with the family dancing at a local supermarket.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 136
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Noah Baumbach
- Writers
- Noah Baumbach · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Adam Driver · Jack Gladney; Greta Gerwig · Babette; Don Cheadle; Raffey Cassidy; May Nivola; Sam Nivola; Jodie Turner-Smith; André Benjamin
- Genres
- absurdist comedy-drama; black comedy; satire
- Themes
- fear of death; consumerism; academia
- Tone and mood
- absurdist; elegant; mysterious; poetic
- Premise and plot tags
- disaster; clinical trial; hallucination
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1985 novel by Don DeLillo
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the direction, cinematography, cast performances, and score, though the screenplay, varying tones, and length were divisive.
- Production trivia
- The train crash scene was filmed in East Palestine, where a similar disaster occurred in 2023.; LCD Soundsystem reunited to record its first new music in over five years for the film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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