Can an absurdist comedy about death and toxic clouds capture the modern American anxiety?
In short: Noah Baumbach’s 2022 adaptation of Don DeLillo’s novel follows a professor of Hitler studies whose life unravels after an environmental disaster. Part satire, part family drama, the film explores the pervasive fear of mortality through a surreal lens, leaving critics divided over its ambitious tone and complex, sprawling narrative.
Set in the 1980s, the film centers on Jack Gladney, a niche academic in Ohio who founded the field of Hitler studies despite not speaking German. His life with his wife, Babette, and their blended family is upended by an Airborne Toxic Event—a chemical spill that forces a mass evacuation. This disaster serves as a catalyst for the family's existential crisis, as Jack is warned that his exposure to the toxic cloud may significantly shorten his life, intensifying his already profound fear of death.
The narrative takes a darker turn when Jack discovers Babette has been secretly participating in a clinical trial for a mysterious drug called Dylar, designed to alleviate death anxiety. Her desperation leads her into a dangerous encounter with a man named Mr. Gray, who provided the drug in exchange for sexual favors. The resulting confrontation at a motel involves a botched shooting, a surreal reconciliation at a hospital run by German atheist nuns, and a final, choreographed dance sequence in a supermarket that underscores the film's absurdist tone.
Adapting DeLillo’s 1985 novel was a long-gestating project, with various directors attached as early as 2004. Baumbach’s version, which features a score by Danny Elfman and a new track by LCD Soundsystem, received mixed but generally positive reactions. While some critics praised the performances of Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, others found the screenplay’s shifting tones and length challenging. The film’s production included filming in East Palestine, Ohio—a location that gained unintended notoriety when a similar train disaster occurred there in 2023.
Ultimately, the film functions as a meditation on how modern society masks the terror of mortality with consumerism and media. Whether viewed as an inspired adaptation or an exasperating experiment, the work remains a polarizing entry in Baumbach’s filmography. It captures a specific, unsettling blend of banality and dread, suggesting that while there is no true escape from the human condition, one might at least find a way to dance through the static.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: White Noise (2022 film)
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