Chronicle is a movie that snuck up on people. There was no buzz while it was being made with no big name actors to draw attention to it. Then the marketing department came up with some great ideas an it caught some curiosity. $100 million or so on a $12 million budget is a cracking good start for everyone involved.

Here’s the story: three high school friends find a hole in the ground that seems out of the ordinary. They go exploring inside and when they make it out they’ve been given telekinesis powers. Slowly they learn to use their extraordinary power and expand what they can do. Soon a power struggle emerges between the boys which quickly spirals out of control.

Chronicle is a bit like a comic book movie, but more established in reality. It’s a “What if…” tale that asks you what would happen if you could move things with your mind? Would you be able to control it and yourself? The classic ethos of “With great power comes great responsibility” is literally told here.

I really liked how this story was handled and shown to the audience. All the actors are good, their motivations clear to understand. For a movie with such a low budget, the FX are done really well. There is some rough compositing and weird fake physics that clearly shows, but for the most part it all works and sells itself well. Really impressive. There’s a lot of great ideas (direction and action wise) at work here.

The choice of going with “found footage” like Blair Witch Project is bold one as you’d think it would really limit on what you’d be able to show as you need a character to hold a camera the whole time. I noticed one or two suspect moments where the camera location would be suspect (near the end, there’s no way you’d hear what the characters are saying in the situation we are shown). The main character, Andrew, is going through a really bad part of his life and decides to record everything. While he learns to use his powers, he figures out how to make his camera float around while doing something else. Not only does this open the doors to camera movement and placement, it also shows how much better he is at controlling his powers than the other two boys. Another character is said to have a video blog, so she is recording everything she does too. While an obvious reach to get another camera rolling for parts where Andrew isn’t around, I let any nagging thoughts go and let it ride.

I’m a big fan of Chronicle, I had a great time watching it. Reminded me a bit of Moon where this little project from the minds of a few ingenious people comes to life on screen. I hope the writer and director continue on from this great start.