'The Darkest Minds' trailer: The kids are not alright in Fox's upcoming superhero film
20th Century Fox has released the first trailer of 'The Darkest Minds', an adaptation of the young-adult novel by Alexandra Bracken of the same title. The film begins in medias res following after 16-year-old Ruby (played by Amandla Stenberg) attains supernatural powers.
Ruby is one of the few children who have managed to survive the plague that has killed most of America's children, and the ones who have survived (like Ruby) have developed mysterious supernatural abilities. These children are perceived to be potential threats by the government.
The government decides to separate them from their parents and send them to detainment camps known as Thurmond in the book. Ruby manages to escape from the camp and soon joins others who are also runaways seeking protection. The escapees then band together to resist the oppressive government and to fight back the adults who tried to take away their lives.
It might seem a little bizarre that such a storyline would come from the studio which already has the mutant franchise 'X-Men' to its name. However, unlike the 'X-Men' series, 'The Darkest Minds' might just be a mirror reflection of the current political scenario in America where the youth of the nation are resisting gun violence and improper immigration policies. American teens took to the streets as part of the 'March for Our Lives' movement to protest gun control policy. Several voices gained prominence in speaking against the adult politicians who simply do not seem to care enough about the nation's upcoming generation. This is probably one factor that will set 'The Darkest Mind' apart from other young-adult films.
The film has been directed by the Asian filmmaker Jennifer Yuh Nelson (who has 'Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3' to her credit) and has a black teenager as its protagonist (Amandla Stenberg plays the role of Ruby). The plot resembles movies like 'The Hunger Games', 'Divergent', and 'The Maze Runner', but is not a story of a white protagonist trying to represent the oppressed. It is an honest representation of what an oppressed demography actually looks like.
The film will also star the 'A Walk to Remember' star Mandy Moore and 'Game of Thrones' star Gwendoline Christie along with Harris Dickinson and Miya Cech. The movie is said to be Nelson's directorial debut and is being produced by Shawn Levy (known for 'Stranger Things') and Dan Levine.