White Noise is a comedy-drama; it follows Jack Gladney, a Hitler studies professor and his family as they navigate suburban life. Jack struggled with his hidden ignorance of German while preparing for an academic conference.
While his colleague Murray tries to establish a field in “Elvis studies”.
Jack is married to Babette, his fourth wife. Together, they have a blended family with four children. Heinrich and Steffie, from Jack’s previous marriages; Denise from Babette’s previous marriage and Wilder, a child they conceived together.
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A train accident releases a cloud of chemical waste, forcing a massive evacuation. The family faces panic, uncertainty and a loss of routine as they deal with the disaster, which highlights their fears of mortality. They live with a constant underlying fear of death and a fixation on consumer culture.
After returning home, the family tries to return to normalcy, but the aftermath of the event, coupled with a secret involving a mysterious drug that Babette is taking to cure her fear of death brings the existential threat to a head. Babette is addicted to this drug which she acquired through an illicit sexual relationship in her desperation to treat her paralyzing fear of mortality.
The film closes with an examination of the couple’s intimate, desperate efforts to overcome their fear of death, concluding with a surreal, mundane yet symbolic dance number in a local supermarket.
White noise proves that we drown in information to avoid wisdom. We buy things to avoid knowing we are things. Death is the event. Life is.
White noise centers on a blended family navigating consumerism, academic pressures and existential dread.
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The movie is an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel, focusing on how modern life is overwhelmed by noise and consumer culture.
Directed by: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola
Running time: 136 minutes
Watch trailer: White Noise | Official Trailer | Netflix
