White Noise: Interesting Concepts Delivered Inconsistently

In the last days of 2021, Netflix released Don’t Look Up, a science fiction satire designed to poke fun at society in a way that was not particularly deep or nuanced. It boasted an all-star cast and world class director which attracted a lot of attention, however it was divisive. This year filling this spot, Netflix released White Noise from director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha, Marriage Story) and starring Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha, Little Women), Don Cheadle (Avengers: Endgame, The Wonder Years), and Adam Driver (Frances Ha, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker). While the underlying ideas are interesting, and worth exploring, the delivery method of these ideas make it a bit of a slog to get through.

White Noise is a multipart story that follows a family living in a small town in ambiguously mid-western America when a toxic airborne event occurs, throwing everyone’s lives into turmoil as they are forced to evacuate and quarantine. As the family deals with the unfolding fallout, their lives are changed as secrets come out and change everything.

The movie is in a weird position because, as noted above, Baumbach has worked with Driver and Gerwig before, however the performances in the movie are just slightly off. It’s nothing about the performances themselves, it’s just that all the actors give this breathless delivery with no downtime between their opportunities to speak. This had to have been a conscious decision and, considering the theme of the movie, it does have some resonance there, however there is not enough there to make this choice worthwhile. That said, Greta Gerwig definitely deserves a shoutout because, beyond being one of the most interesting directors working today with Little Women and Ladybird both being some of the best movies of 2019 and 2017 respectively, she is also an incredible actress and has the strongest performance in the movie.

The strongest thing about the film is the critique of society where the titular “white noise” refers to the ambient distractions that are systematically designed in American society. The idea that the protagonist is a “professor of Hitler studies” while working with someone who is specifically trying to start a similar program for studies of Elvis highlights the obsession with expertise in hyper-specific subject areas. The set dressing of the A&P using anachronistic variations of box art on the products or sale highlights the issues that come from infinite choice and how that is largely distracting from the larger problems. The plot about Babette being on a drug for a fear of death highlights issues with the psychopharmacology industry and the speed with which medication is given for issues that may not specifically need medication.

Unfortunately, it is in this strength that the movie falls apart. These moments are not given the forefront of the plot except in certain moments and really require a close reading to pick up. The idea of a fear of death being a catalyst in the movie is sparsely introduced, however the third act kind of hinges on it in a way that further development beyond the act one scene with Babette and Jack debating who they’d prefer to die first and the act two scene where Jack was exposed to the toxin and gets the “bad news” that it will be in his system for 80 years and may at that point kill him. Thematic subtlety may be Baumbach’s style, however for this movie it does not get enough time to shine through in a way that makes for an interesting viewing experience. Couple that with a Lucas-like “faster and more intense” dialogue coaching and the experience can be grating to get through.

At the end of the day, White Noise is fine, it just could be better. It seems like a response to Don’t Look Up’s criticism that it was too ham-handed in its approach and its subtlety is almost as infuriating in the other direction. That said, the ideas are interesting and some of the production design is interesting to look at and the cinematography is great, however it is unlikely to take home any hardware at major award shows this year. It is available to watch on Netflix, however it definitely would have benefitted from a theatrical distraction-free viewing experience considering how subtle some of the symbolism and storytelling beats are, for better or for worse.

Final Rating: 7.5/10