History Film / ChaosWalking2021

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[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} No one escapes the Noise]]'']]

''Chaos Walking'' is a 2021 American dystopian science fiction action film. It is based upon ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'', the first book in the ''Literature/ChaosWalking'' trilogy by Creator/PatrickNess. The film was directed by Creator/DougLiman and the screenplay written by Ness and Christopher Ford. [[note]]Jamie Linden, John Lee Hancock, Gary Spinelli and Lindsey Beer also contributed, revising the first draft written by Creator/CharlieKaufman[[/note]] It stars Creator/TomHolland, Creator/DaisyRidley and Creator/MadsMikkelsen.

After several years in DevelopmentHell, the film was released on 5th March 2021. [[note]]in most places; South Korea got a 24th February theatrical release and Australia got a 4th March release [[/note]]

* HasTwoMommies: Gender-inverted: After his mother died when he was a baby, Todd was raised by two men, Ben and Cillian (who are a couple), and regards them both as his fathers.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: In the book [[spoiler:Viola is shot and badly injured by Davy; Todd manages to bring her to Haven for medical treatment, only to find David has taken over and he is forced to surrender to him to save Viola]]. In the film [[spoiler:Todd and Viola never make it to Haven; they find the remnants of the first colony ship and repair the antenna so Viola can send a distress signal to the second ship. Viola battles and kills Aaron, while Todd fights David to give Viola time to send the signal. Todd is the one who gets shot, Viola arrives in time to save him from David and the newly-arrived colony ship provides Todd with medical treatment]].
* AdaptationalSelfDefense: In the book Todd attacks and kills the Spackle in the river in cold-blood, assuming it would attack them. In the film the Spackle attacks Todd first, dragging him from his hiding spot, and he fights back with his knife.

* AgeLift: In the books Todd and Viola are both around thirteen years old. They're clearly much older in the film, presumably intended to be in their late teens (Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley were both in their twenties during filming and definitely don't pass for young teens).

* DaydreamSurprise: At one point while they're resting in the woods, Todd and Viola have an intimate conversation that ends with them kissing passionately. However, it's then interrupted by Viola incredulously asking "What are you doing?" It turns out that Todd was just imagining the kiss, though because of the Noise Viola also saw the whole thing play out along with the audience, much to both Todd and Viola's embarrassment.

* AdaptationalSelfDefense: In the book Todd attacks and kills the Spackle in the river in cold-blood, assuming it would attack them. In the film the Spackle attacks Todd first, dragging him from his hiding spot and he fights back with his knife.

* {{Gendercide}}: All the women in Prentisstown were killed years ago during a war with the Spackle, the natives of New World. Todd is shocked to encounter Viola because she's the first girl he's ever seen. It becomes evident that women aren't extinct elsewhere: Viola obviously exists and makes a point of asking what happened to all the women, [[spoiler: and another settlement has loads of women, revealing that the Spackle weren't responsible for killing Prentisstown's women]].

* MasterOfIllusion: Some of the men can use their Noise to create convincing illusions. Todd uses his to scare Davy with a fake snake, David can create fake walls and duplicates of himself. This particularly [[ChekhovsSkill comes in handy later on]];[[spoiler:Ben is able to create a fake Viola as a distraction while the real Viola escapes, and in the end Todd creates illusions of the women David killed to distract him long enough for Viola to intervene]].

* DemotedToExtra: Davy Prentiss Jr. In the book he has quite a significant role, including [[spoiler:Todd choosing to spare his life and Davy shooting Viola near the end]]. In the film neither of this incidents occur; the only notable things Davy does is [[spoiler:[[NiceJobFixingItVillain inadvertently helping]] Viola escape]] and initially serving as a rival for Todd.

* NoRomanticResolution: It's made ''very'' clear that Todd has romantic feelings for Viola, though while she becomes fond of him it's left ambigious if she reciprocates. At the end of the film [[spoiler:Todd's Noise once again loudly indicates he wants Viola to kiss him; they don't kiss nor does he ask her verbally, but rather than be annoyed or embarassed like before [[MaybeEverAfter she just smiles at him]]]].

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:The women in Prentisstown weren't killed by the Spackle; some of the men, led by David and the preacher, went crazy and massacred them]].

* {{Telepathy}}:The Noise is actually a kind of inversion of this; all men afflicted with Noise automatically project their thoughts to everyone else (women, who don't have Noise, can also see and hear their thoughts). This manifests as audible mental chatter and a colored 'aura' that forms visual representations of their thoughts. With enough practice and concentration, they can hide their Noise or use to create convincing illusions.