Chaos Walking is a 2021 American dystopian science-fiction action-thriller film directed by Doug Liman and written by Patrick Ness and Christopher Ford. It is based on Ness's science fiction trilogy Chaos Walking, adapting its first book, 2008's The Knife of Never Letting Go. It stars Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Demián Bichir, Cynthia Erivo, Nick Jonas and David Oyelowo. It follows a young man who lives in a dystopian world without women, where all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts in streams of images, words and sounds, called "Noise". When a woman crash-lands on the planet, he protects her from danger.
Announced in 2011, the film underwent several rewrites based on an initial draft by Charlie Kaufman, with Jamie Linden, John Lee Hancock, Gary Spinelli, Lindsey Beer, Ford, and Ness revising it further. Liman was later announced as director in 2016, and principal photography began in 2017. Originally set to release on March 1, 2019, it was removed from the schedule to accommodate the film's reshoots in April 2019 after poor test screenings.
The film premiered in South Korea on February 24, 2021, and in the United States on March 5, 2021. It received generally negative reviews from critics who derided the film's underdeveloped plot, uneven pacing, lack of character development, Ridley and Holland's chemistry, and deviation from the source material's themes and message. The film was also a commercial failure, grossing $27.1 million worldwide against its $100‒125 million budget and resulting in a write-down for Lionsgate.
Plot
In 2257 AD, in the colony of the planet New World, all the male colonists have been afflicted with a condition called the Noise, which causes everyone to see and hear each other's thoughts. The colonists were at war with the native humanoid species referred to as The Spackle, which killed all the female colonists, while half the men survived. Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown with his adoptive fathers, Ben Moore and Cillian Boyd. Other residents include the preacher Aaron, the town's mayor David Prentiss, and his son Davy. Prentiss has learned to control his Noise, making his thoughts difficult to see and hear. A spaceship that lost contact with the First Colony approaches New World and a scout ship is sent to investigate the planet, but it crashes. Todd discovers someone stealing something and chases the thief, only to come upon the crash site.
Todd returns to the town and tries to keep quiet, but the other men hear and see his thoughts about the crashed ship. They head to investigate the crash scene but find no survivors. While Todd is alone, he meets Viola, the ship's only survivor. He is shocked to see a girl, as he has never seen one before. The men from Prentisstown capture Viola and she is brought to the mayor's home, where she is questioned about where she came from. Prentiss leaves to go speak to the men and leaves Davy in charge of keeping an eye on her. Davy unwittingly toys with one of Viola's gadgets, which causes it to shoot large holes in the walls, allowing Viola to escape.
During her escape, Viola overhears Prentiss talking about preventing her from contacting the colony's mothership, intercepting their landing, killing them while they are still under cryosleep, and scavenging the ship. Viola hides in Todd's family's barn, where Todd eventually finds her. Todd tries to hide Viola when one of Prentiss' men arrives looking for her. Ben tells Todd about another settlement called Farbranch and says Viola will be safe there.
Viola escapes while Todd chases after her. Prentiss and the men arrive at the farm, demanding Viola back as they believe she is a spy. Davy kills Cillian, and Ben is forced to join them. Meanwhile, Todd catches up to Viola and the two begin a journey to Farbranch, accompanied by Todd's dog, Manchee. During the journey, Viola reveals to Todd that she is from a large Colony Ship carrying over four thousand passengers and that her parents died during the journey from Earth to the New World. When they encounter a Spackle, Todd attempts to kill it in self-defense, but Viola stops him because it does not appear to be dangerous. They arrive at Farbranch, a town inhabited by men, women, and children, some of whom are displeased with Todd's presence because he is from Prentisstown.