Following Review

This is the first in my series of reviews of Christopher Nolan's filmography before the release of his next film Interstellar. His feature debut, Following, is quite a remarkable movie, especially when one considers the way in which Nolan filmed it. He funded the film out of his own pocket and spent his weekends over the course of a year filming it with his now-wife Emma Thomas and some of his friends. No professional actors or crew. Just some people that wanted to make a movie. When you watch Following, this fact will probably surprise you. It's a really good movie, regardless of the manner in which it was produced or its technical aspects. And that is a testament to Nolan's uncommon grasp on storytelling and character building.

Following starts out with a man - who is never actually named - who decides he wants to follow random strangers around over the course of a day or so and just see where they go and what they do. When he first begins, he's not intending to be creepy in any way. He's just curious, a writer in need of inspiration. That is until one man catches him following him. It turns out the man he has been following was a thief named Cobb, and Cobb begins to take the man with him during his burglaries. The man eventually finds himself entangled in a mess he never wanted to be a part of.

The cast is made up of entirely unknowns, but most of them do a surprisingly good job, in particular Alex Haw, the man who plays the mysterious thief Cobb. He gives a pretty excellent performance, and it's the only work he's done in film. Jeremy Theobald is also quite good.

Christopher Nolan is one of the most innovative and effective storytellers of this generation, and this is on full display in Following. It's not just the nonlinear narrative - though that is a part of it. It's also his uncanny ability to make these improbable situations feel like they could really happen. There's an engrossing authenticity to all his films. Following rivets you to the screen for the entirety of its very brief run time. You start to just not care how much money it cost to make or how famous the actors are. You become totally interested in this story, in this world. A world of deceit and mystery and the gritty criminal underworld that dwells right under our nose.

Much like Alfred Hitchcock did in his 1958 masterpiece Vertigo, Nolan explores the concepts of obsession and idolatry, as well as the fallouts that come from unchecked fixation. Following really is a Hitchcockian thriller, one I think the Master of Suspense would have been proud to direct himself.

Perhaps Following doesn't have dazzling effects or a mind-blowing plot like some of Nolan's later works. But it is a very good debut for the man who has brought so many of my favorite films into the world. It's incredibly short and entirely low-budget, but it's a riveting thriller, one that actually causes the audience to think, and provokes them to reflect on certain aspects of their own lives. If you haven't yet seen Following, I'd seriously suggest it.

A-