The Thinning
| The Thinning | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Michael J. Gallagher |
| 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 Premium |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Thinning is a 2016 American social science fiction thriller web film directed by Michael Gallagher and starring Logan Paul, Peyton List, Lia Marie Johnson, Calum Worthy, Matthew Glave, Michael Traynor, and Stacey Dash. It is set in a dystopian future in which population control is enforced through a school aptitude test. Those who fail it are executed.
Plot
In 2039, Earth's resources are nearly depleted by overpopulation, combined with global warming. The United Nations declares that all nations must cut their populations by 5% each year. While some countries kill the elderly and others enforce a one-child policy, the United States implements a policy known as 10-241 or the "Thinning", a standardized test in which those who pass continue to the next grade,and those who fail are executed.
Blake Redding, son of the Texas governor Dean Redding, is dating a girl named Ellie Harper, both of whom did not study for the exam. Blake passed the exams, while Ellie failed the exam. Blake calls his father in an attempt to free Ellie, but he refused. Blake tries to save Ellie, but she was recaptured, and executed.
One year later, Blake has become distant towards his father since then. At the day of his last Thinning exam, he makes a video explaining that he will purposefully fail his exam in order to punish his father for what happened to Ellie and to try to get his father to stop supporting the Thinning. Blake drops his tape in the mail, but his father's agent removes it and gives it to him personally. Test manager Mason King is ordered by Redding to pass Blake regardless of his score. Because Blake and genius classmate Laina Michaels finish the test at the same time, Mason switches their scores. Laina fails as a result and Blake passes.
Teacher Ms. Birch sees Laina and the others walking to the Thinning zone. She tries to convince the guard that Laina can't possibly fail the test, but isn't successful. Ms. Birch secretly hands a key card to Laina so she can unlock the doors and escape. Blake causes a blackout in the school, allowing Laina to escape using Ms. Birch's key card. That, however, becomes impossible as the school goes under lockdown. After using the key card, Laina meets up with Blake.
While Blake and Laina try to escape in a vent, Laina drops the key card. Blake beats up a DPC guard and wears his outfit and baton. Another DPC guard finds the guard that Blake beat up, and is questioned by Mason King. The guard says the culprits were a male student (Blake) and a girl that says she was a teacher (Laina). Because of that, all of the teachers are taken to a holding room to be searched. Ms. Birch steals the key card of another teacher, Mr. Glass. She shows it and is allowed to leave, while Mr. Glass is executed as he doesn't have his key card and hence isn't able to reveal Laina's whereabouts.
Laina goes to the server room to check the scores. To her horror, she finds out that test scores are shuffled and have resulted in the wrongful deaths of many students with passing scores, like Ellie. Laina sends photos of it to her friend Kellan, who is friends with a news anchor. The power is turned on, and Laina is caught on camera in the server room, and is taken to the Thinning. Blake, still in the disguise, attempts to release all the failed students, but gets in a fight with other guards. After the photos are leaked, Governor Redding has no choice but to review the results and execute all of those who actually failed, including Blake. The lockdown is also ended; Laina is reunited with her younger sister Corrine and Ms. Birch, who has been taking care of Corrine since Laina and Corrine's mother's death.
Blake and the others are shown in a large elevator deep underground, where many people are working for tech company Assuru Global. As Blake slowly wakes up from what's actually a sleep drug, he sees a blonde girl working. The girl is Ellie.
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
- Aria Lyric Leabu as Corrine Michaels
Reception
Adi Robertson of The Verge gave a negative review of the film, describing it, in comparison to other films about teenagers forced into a deadly competition, as "remarkable simply for being such a bad take on the formula."[1]
Sequel
On November 17, 2017, Logan Paul announced on his YouTube channel that a sequel, titled The Thinning: New World Order was starting production.[citation needed]
On January 10, 2018, YouTube announced that production of New World Order was put on hold, as part of repercussions instated upon Paul for posting a controversial video in which he visited Aokigahara, a Japanese forest known for being a common place for suicides to occur, and filmed a dead body.[2] This sparked outrage across social media against Paul, forcing an apology from himself and repercussions from YouTube, including delaying The Thinning: New World Order and his appearance in the upcoming season of YouTube Red series Foursome, but the criticism still continues.[3]
On October 16, 2018, Logan Paul released the trailer for The Thinning: New World Order. On October 17, Paul premiered The Thinning: New World Order to the public.[4]
References
- ^ Robertson, Adi (2016-12-15). "3% and The Thinning are this year's best and worst take on dystopian meritocracy". The Verge. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
- ^ "Logan Paul, and the toxic YouTube prank culture that created him, explained".
- ^ Alexander, Julia (10 January 2018). "YouTube removes Logan Paul from top-tier Google ad platform, YouTube Red projects on hold". Polygon.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (17 October 2018). "Logan Paul's YouTube Premium movie is back on, months after controversy". The Verge. Retrieved 18 October 2018.