High-Rise

Set in the mid-1970s, the high-rise underlines urban austerity and social tension in London. The closed, self-contained world of the tower magnifies the divisions between floors as resources become scarce. The era’s mood of upheaval frames the escalating chaos inside the building.

The setting centers on a gleaming 40-storey tower on the outskirts of London. Wealthy residents occupy the upper floors while poorer tenants dwell below, sharing amenities like a pool, gym and school. When power, water, and services fail, the building devolves into a pressure cooker for social collapse.

🏙️ Class

The building literally encodes class within its floors: the top levels house the wealthy, while poorer residents live below. Shared amenities highlight the disparity, and access to basic needs becomes a contested resource. As power and influence shift, social tensions erupt into violence, revealing fragile hierarchies rather than a harmonious 'new living'.

⚖️ Disorder

As power cuts, water shutdowns, and blocked chutes recur, law and order inside the tower deteriorate. Upper- and lower-floor factions compete for control, exposing how authority is easy to corrupt in a closed system. The environment becomes a pressure cooker that accelerates decay and dehumanization.

🧠 Sanity

Laing's mental state deteriorates from rational observer to a man haunted by the building itself. The closed world tests personal ethics, loyalty, and fear, blurring lines between victim and aggressor. The film treats madness as both consequence and critique of living inside such a crucible.