Chronicle

The story Chronicle shows us a teen, Andrew Detmer, who is dealing with many pressures in his life. He lives with his parents, a father who is an injured firefighter and his mother who is dying from cancer. His father is frequently abusive, both verbal and physical. The family barely has the money to pay for medication for the mother’s illness. To make matters worse, Andrew is dealing with social pressures at the high school he attends. However, his cousin Matt, with whom he used to be close with as kids, has adapted a little better to the social pressures of high school. Matt invites Andrew to a party that takes place in an old barn; they attend, along with another popular guy name Steve. Outside of the party in a nearby field they find a hole. This leads to a cave holding a mysterious substance.

The three teens mysteriously receive superpowers by way of telekinesis (direct influence of mind on a physical object, i.e., moving objects with the mind). They use their new found powers for moving small objects, playing pranks and practical jokes on people. Andrew purchases a video camera and records all these events as they go about enjoying their superpowers. Eventually, their abilities begin to increase, as they learn to use their powers to fly. However, because of Andrew’s troubled life he channels much of his pain and unresolved issues into vengeful acts.

As the movie progresses, Matt is shown pleading with Andrew to abide by the “rules”. One of the rules consists of not harming people. Andrew does not abide by this rule and grows increasingly strong in his superpowers. He appears to have apathy associated with the violence against others. With this new authority, he listens to no one, and becomes a dangerous threat to anyone who has ever hurt him.

Our Father, God, is Omnipotent; which means He has all power and authority. In addition, He is also very patient and is made perfect in love. This is why we can trust God to have all power, because the scripture says this:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

You often hear people make comments like “I couldn’t be God, because I would do this or do that to someone”. Well this statement is very true. Unless we are made perfect in love according to 1 Corinthians 13, we run the risk of abusing “superpowers”, if we had them. Consider the following:

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:1-8).

Objectionable content

There is frequent profanity such as “holy crap”, many uses of God’s name in vain. There are also frequent use of “-ss and d_mn” “b_tch” and hell. Sexual references are made about losing virginity and the comment “douche bag” is made. Under-aged drinking is shown and other careless behaviors associated with drinking. The teens experience frequent nosebleeds as one of their side effects of the telekinesis. One of the boys refers to it as a “face period”.

Violence is shown throughout as an act of revenge. These vengeful acts were on parents, drivers on the road, police authorities, bullies at school, etc.

Positives

Matt is shown having a great deal of compassion about Andrew harming others. He tries to save the life of a drowning man due to an accident Andrew caused. He also makes several other attempts to stop Andrew’s destructive behavior. Other positive content includes the close relationship between Andrew and his mother and her encouragement toward him.

I cannot recommend this film due to its heavy violence and language. However, what we can take from this film is that unresolved and troublesome issues people have are not hidden when they are given money, power, or status. It only magnifies what issues are already there. This powerful message is greatly revealed in this movie.

Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative