Young People Rule In 'The Darkest Minds'

(l-r) Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech, Amandla Stenberg and Harris Dickinson

By Darlene Donloe

When we first see Ruby she’s an adorable little girl in bed surrounded by her parents who have just given her a special keychain for her birthday.

You can tell they are a loving family. Fast-forward to the next morning and little Ruby is entering the kitchen to say good morning to her mom. Unfortunately for Ruby, her mother doesn’t know her.   The mother even asks, “How did you get in here?”

Next frame and the mother is putting Ruby out in the garage where she is picked up by the government.

So starts The Darkest Minds, the latest YA survival thriller directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, based upon the novel by Alexandra Bracken with a screenplay by Chad Hodge.  The movie is in theaters nationwide today, Friday, Aug. 3.

Watch the video HERE: https://youtu.be/L4YtUUk6lcg 

In The Darkest Minds, a plague breaks out that wipes out 90% of the world’s children. Those who survive end up with varying degrees of superpowers. The degrees are distinguished by colors. “Orange” kids are considered the most dangerous, as are red. They are considered so dangerous that the government has them killed off.  Ruby, who has orange powers, pretends she doesn’t.

Eventually, the government rounds up the survivors and divides them based on the relative danger of their powers.

Ruby escapes from the concentration camps with the help of a sympathetic doctor, played by Mandy Moore.

Amandla Stenberg and Harris Dickinson

While on the run, Ruby stumbles upon three other kids in a Nissan minivan who are also escapees.

Harris Dickinson, who plays Liam, is the leader of the group. He is joined by the highly intelligent Chubs, played by Skylan Brooks and Miya Cech, who plays Zu, a mute.

Chubs has some great one-liners in the film, while Liam and Ruby have some tender moments. Ruby is afraid to get too close to Liam because she feels her powers could erase his memory.

Liam, Ruby, Chubs, and Zu hear there is a hidden compound where rumor has it, they can live free without interference from Tracers, (bounty hunters).

Eventually, the small group makes it the camp where they meet kids who have formed a resistance group. They have started their own community within the safeguards of a compound headed by an unlikely sort. The main objective is to reclaim control of their future from the adult world that fears everyone under 18.

Mandy Moore doesn’t have much to do. Neither does Bradley Whitford. Moore and Whitford are fine actors, but you gotta have something to work with.

The film is hit and miss. While watching you get the feeling that you must have blinked and missed something because the movie is not coming together smoothly.   There are too many questions and even more holes. However, there are some rather cool special effects.

Not quite sure what the director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, was really going for. The movie is uneven and clods along in sections.

It’s not all bad. Get yourself a bag of popcorn, get comfortable in your seat and proceed to suspend disbelief for a little less than two hours.  

The Darkest Minds stars Amandla Stenberg, Mandy Moore, Skylan Brooks, Gwendoline Christie, Bradley Whitford, Harris Dickinson, Wallace Langham, Golden Brooks, Patrick Gibson, and Miya Cech.

The Darkest Minds is Rated PG-13; 1h 45 min.

On the DONLOE SCALE:  D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent), The Darkest Mind gets an L (likable).