The Thinning
| The Thinning | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Kasy Jensen |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Greg Cotten |
| Edited by | Brian Ufberg |
| Music by | Brandon Campbell |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | YouTube Red |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Thinning is a 2016 social science fiction thriller web film set in a dystopian future in which population control is enforced through a school aptitude test. Those who fail it are executed. Two high school students learn, to their horror, the tests are rigged. They face many challenges and eventually make the ultimate sacrifice. The film stars Logan Paul, Peyton List, Lia Marie Johnson, Calum Worthy, Matthew Glave, Michael Traynor, and Ryan Newman.[1]
Plot
In the year 2039, Earth's resources are nearly depleted by overpopulation, so the United Nations declares that all nations must cut their population by 5% each year. While some countries remove their elderly, others enforce a one-child policy. The United States implements a policy known as 10-241 or the "Thinning", a standardized test taken from first grade to twelfth grade. Those who pass continue to the next grade, while those who fail are executed.
The story is set in Austin, Texas where Laina Michaels (Peyton List) helps Simon (Miles Elliot) study for the Thinning. When he is unable to understand the content, Laina reluctantly sells Simon a small contact lens that will solve the questions on the test for him, and uses the money earned to pay for treatments for her sick mother. On their way to the Thinning exam, Simon is nudged and his contact falls out. The guards usher him into the building, and without the lens, he fails his exam and is ultimately executed. Before the test, Laina meets up with her friend Kellan (Calum Worthy) whose father is a teacher at their high school.
Blake Redding (Logan Paul) is the son of the Texas governor Dean Redding (Matthew Glave). Although he lives the high life, he is dating a wild girl named Ellie (Lia Marie Johnson). Blake sneaks out of his house to hang out with Ellie one last time before the Thinning and they sneak off to a hilltop pool. While they are kissing in the car, one of Governor Redding's agents discovers them, and Blake is taken home to be lectured by his father.
Ellie fails the exam the following day, and Blake calls his father in an attempt to free Ellie, but he refuses. Blake causes a diversion and screams at Ellie to run, but she is blocked by students in the hallway and is recaptured. Ellie is executed in the Thinning.
One year later, Laina's mother has died and she is helping her younger sister Corrine (Dimitra Leontidou) study for her first Thinning test. Blake has become cold and distant towards his father since Ellie's death. He makes a video explaining that he will purposefully fail his Thinning exam in order to punish his father for what happened to Ellie. Blake drops his tape in the mail, but his father's agents remove it and have it delivered to him personally. The agents are ordered to pass Blake even though he only received a 15% on the test. Laina fails as a result, despite scoring 98%. Another student, Sarah Foster (Ryan Newman), knows that she wouldn't be able to pass the test, so she has sex with her teacher as motivation for him to alter the test. However, her teacher misled her and he isn't able to change her grade. Sarah fails the test and is led away with Laina and the other students to be thinned.
Blake causes a power outage in the school, allowing Laina to escape while the school goes under lockdown. News about the events spreads that parents have no information about what has happened to their students. After using a key card given to her by her teacher, Laina meets up with Blake and they explore through the vents to avoid the guards. Blake, disguised as a guard, leaves Laina to go to the Thinning while Laina goes to the server room to check the scores. To her horror, she finds out that test procedures are rigged and have resulted in the wrongful deaths of many students with passing scores, including Ellie. Mason King and the DPC track Laina down to the server room, apprehend her, and then return her to the Thinning. The teacher that had sex with Sarah is also executed for giving Laina his keycard, but Laina's teacher had actually given her key to Laina and stolen his.
After photos of the Thinning results are leaked to the media by Kellan, Governor Redding has no choice but to review the results and execute all those who actually failed, including Blake. Laina is greatly upset by this, and after sharing a kiss with Blake she is dragged away by guards. Blake and the other failing students are executed. After the school finally lifts the lockdown, Laina is reunited with Corrine outside the school.
Blake, and the other supposedly executed students including Sarah, are shown in a large elevator deep underground. As he slowly wakes up, he sees a girl taking off a white mask. The girl is Ellie, and she reveals that those sentenced to the Thinning are still alive and working for the company that makes the tablets for the test.
Cast
- Logan Paul as Blake Redding
- Peyton List as Laina Michaels
- Calum Worthy as Kellan Woods
- Lia Marie Johnson as Ellie Harper
- Matthew Glave as Gov. Dean Redding
- Michael Traynor as Mason King
- Ryan Newman as Sarah Foster
- Stacey Dash as Kendra Birch
- Patrick O'Sullivan as Mr. Glass
- Jana Winternitz as Ms. Cole
- Kiersten Warren as Barbara Michaels
- Dimitra Leontidou as Corrine Michaels
- Miles Elliot as Simon
- Tara Platt as Animation Voice Over
Location
The location of the futuristic high school in the movie is Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, California.
References
- ^ Weiss, Geoff (October 6, 2016). "Logan Paul Unveils Official Trailer For YouTube Red's First Feature Thriller, 'The Thinning'". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2016-10-22.