White Noise 2022

In the midst of 1984, Professor Jack Gladney (Adam Driver), a trailblazer in the field of “Hitler studies,” navigates his tenure at College-on-the-Hill in Ohio with calculated precision. As he prepares to deliver a pivotal speech at an upcoming conference, Jack’s secret is revealed: despite being a leading authority on Hitler, he remains woefully ignorant of the German language and has begun taking clandestine lessons to rectify this oversight.

Jack shares his life with Babette (Greta Gerwig), his fourth wife, and together they raise a blended family comprising four children from their respective pasts. Heinrich (Sam Nivola) and Steffie (May Nivola) are the product of Jack’s previous marriages, while Denise (Raffey Cassidy) is the child of Babette’s former union, and Wilder (Henry and Dean Moore), a joint creation with Babette. As they cultivate their family life, Babette harbors concerns about the future when their children inevitably grow up and depart.

Meanwhile, Denise’s prying eyes uncover Babette’s hidden stash of Dylar, a mysterious medication shrouded in secrecy, unbeknownst to Jack or anyone else. This discovery sparks a series of eerie events as Jack begins experiencing unsettling dreams, hinting at an earlier conversation with Babette centered around their shared fear of mortality. The threads of his subconscious weave together with the reality of his life.

As Jack’s colleague Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle), a professor of American culture, seeks to establish “Elvis studies” as a distinct field, he enlists Jack’s expertise to legitimize his course as the premier authority on Elvis. Jack agrees to participate in Murray’s class, and their debate delves into the striking similarities between Elvis and Hitler’s childhoods. Both figures were remarkably close to their mothers and maintained those bonds throughout their lives, captivating audiences with their charisma.

However, beneath the surface of this academic rivalry lies a more sinister undercurrent. As Babette’s memory begins to falter, Denise reveals to Steffie that her mother is relying on prescription medication – specifically Dylar pills – which may be contributing to her cognitive decline. The revelation sets off a chain reaction as Jack becomes aware of his wife’s prescription use and the potential consequences it might have on their lives together.

As the tranquil existence of Jack and his family is abruptly disrupted by the catastrophic train accident, a noxious cloud of chemical waste descends upon their unsuspecting town. Initially convinced that the toxic plume poses no threat to them or their community, Jack endeavors to assuage his loved ones’ concerns with philosophical musings on societal injustice, where the impoverished and uneducated often bear the brunt of man-made disasters. However, as the “Airborne Toxic Event” - a term that evolves from a seemingly innocuous “feathery plume” to a foreboding “Dark billowing Cloud” to its ominous moniker - looms large over their town, Jack’s complacency is shattered.

The putrid cloud’s slow crawl towards the town triggers a massive exodus, clogging the highways as panicked residents scramble for safety. As they navigate the treacherous roads, authorities broadcast dire warnings: “Remain indoors” and “If you’ve evacuated, find shelter quickly.” The Gladneys’ journey is further hampered by multiple accidents along the route, leaving them precariously close to running out of gas.

Desperate to refill their tank, Jack steers his family towards a nearby gas station. Unfortunately, this stop proves a fateful mistake, as they inadvertently cross paths with the toxic cloud. The situation quickly spirals out of control as the airborne toxin morphs into a behemoth cloud of smoke, conjuring its own weather and thunderstorms that engulf the entire town and surrounding highways.

As the quarantine protocols are enforced at a summer camp, Jack’s family - along with countless others - is forced to endure a grueling isolation. It is here that Denise, Jack’s daughter, reveals the alarming truth: her father’s brief exposure to the cloud at the gas station has left them all vulnerable to its deadly effects. At the medical desk, Jack is told to carry on as usual, but the reality of his family’s predicament is far from comforting.

The camp becomes a cauldron of chaos when multiple families, desperate to escape the toxic cloud’s grasp, attempt to flee en masse. Amidst this bedlam, Murray supplies Jack with a compact pistol, warning him that the camp is rife with survivalists who will stop at nothing to ensure their own safety. As tensions escalate and panic sets in, the Gladneys find themselves caught in the midst of a desperate bid for freedom - one that ultimately ends in heartbreak as they watch their car float away in the river, the victim of their own desperation.

As they finally arrive in Iron City, Jack and his family encounter a passionate individual lamenting the lack of media attention paid to the evacuees, while simultaneously fixating on Jack himself. It’s as if this stranger has seen him before, their gaze lingering on his face with an unsettling familiarity. After an arduous nine-day journey, the family is finally reunited with their home, though Jack’s brief exposure to the chemical waste has inadvertently amplified his deep-seated fear of mortality.

As the days pass, a sense of normalcy gradually returns, but Babette remains shrouded in pallor, her lethargy and emotional detachment from her loved ones a stark contrast to her former self. She becomes increasingly isolated, spending hours staring blankly out the window, lost in thought as tears stream down her face. Her sweatsuit, once a comfortable staple of her daily routine, now hangs loosely on her frail frame like a symbol of her inner disintegration.

Meanwhile, Jack’s psyche begins to unravel, his mind plagued by vivid hallucinations of a mysterious, balding figure lurking in the shadows, always just out of reach. Denise shares her growing concerns about Dylar’s impact on Babette’s fragile state, prompting Jack to confront his wife and uncover the truth behind her increasing remoteness.

With a sense of trepidation, Jack delves deeper into the mystery, first consulting with Babette’s doctor only to be met with denials regarding Dylar or any potential connection to the mysterious drug. Undeterred, Jack seeks out Babette’s neuro-chemistry professor for a definitive analysis of the substance. The truth is finally revealed: Dylar is an experimental psycho-pharmaceutical, its true nature and effects shrouded in secrecy.

As Jack pieces together the puzzle, he discovers that Babette had joined a clandestine clinical trial, responding to a cryptic newspaper ad promising relief from death anxieties. When she was terminated from the study, she agreed to exchange sexual favors for continued access to the mysterious drug, her desperation and shame locked away like a dark secret. The motel’s grubby TV, suspended precariously near the ceiling, serves as a haunting reminder of Babette’s Faustian bargain, one that has left her forever changed.

As Jack’s fascination with the enigmatic Dylar grows, he turns to Denise for access to the bottle, only to be met with a surprising revelation: she had already discarded it earlier. Undeterred, Jack embarks on a mission to uncover more about the mysterious substance by rummaging through the trash, where he stumbles upon a newspaper ad for Dylar. This newfound knowledge sparks a desire for retribution against Mr. Gray, and Jack sets out to track him down at a local motel. Upon arrival, he discovers that his arch-nemesis is none other than the hallucination’s true identity, leaving Jack no choice but to exact revenge. With swift action, Jack dispatches Mr. Gray, then stages the scene to appear as if the victim had taken his own life. However, their plan is quickly foiled when Babette unexpectedly appears on the scene, only to find a still-breathing Mr. Gray who manages to fire at them both, though their injuries are minor. As Jack and Babette work together to convince the bewildered Mr. Gray of his role in their predicament, they decide to take him to a nearby hospital operated by German atheist nuns, where they also find an opportunity for personal reconciliation.

The following day, the Gladney family visits a local A&P supermarket, where they join forces with other patrons and employees to participate in a lively dance number, blending seamlessly into the vibrant atmosphere.