Chronicle (2012)

The Story

Three teenagers gain telekinetic powers after exposure to something buried underground, and start filming the fallout as those powers pull each of them in a very different direction.

Verdict

This may be the only found footage superhero movie that exists. What sticks with you here isn’t (only) the destruction in the third act, it’s how believable the earlier scenes of joyriding and showing off feel first. I love watching the three of them figure out their powers together, the trial and error, the sheer joy of discovering what they can actually do, before anything starts going wrong. Andrew’s arc works because the film never rushes him, it lets his emotions build in small, mundane moments, and DeHaan’s performance carries real weight through that whole shift. A lot of studio superhero films never manage that kind of character depth, and I think that’s exactly what makes Chronicle stand out. Not as well known as Marvel, Superman, or Batman, but perhaps even better.

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Best Found Footage Movies of All Time

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Similar Movies

District 9 (2009) A different kind of transformation story, with the same interest in what power actually does to a person. → Go to movie

Earth to Echo (2014) A gentler, more family-friendly counterpart if the darker turn here wasn’t what you wanted. → Go to movie

Project X (2012) A much lighter film about teenagers filming their own escalating chaos, minus the superpowers. → Go to movie