Amanda Stenberg is all over movie screens thanks to the debut of The Hate U Give but home media seekers can find her now in The Darkest Minds, the film based on Alexandra Brackens’ young adult series about young people with strange gifts.
After disease kills off the majority of the Earth’s children, the surviving children develop new abilities that the government seeks to study and control through “rehabilitation camps.” The gifted children are subdivided into different camps which are color-coded. Stenberg’s heroine Ruby is an “Orange,” the most dangerous category with the ability to make anyone she touches forget their memories. She escapes and goes in hiding but six years later, Ruby finds herself avoiding both the government and the government’s enemy organization, The Children’s League. Who will Ruby become and what will she do to survive are the key questions in what is the opening salvo of Brackens’ story.
Fans of the FOX film and the story will appreciate the featurette on “Remember- A Look Beyond Ruby ad Liam’s Last Kiss” as well as the focus on director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who was previously best known for Kung Fu Panda and its sequel. There are also commentaries, storyboards, character profiles, and the gag reel to consider on the Blu-ray.
For those seeking a story about what it means to explore one’s gifts and personality without being controlled or manipulated, The Darkest Minds slides into that space. Like the X-Men or other such universes, we’re reminded that you can’t control a person’s gifts, that ultimately, we’re responsible for figuring out who we are and taking responsibility for what happens next.
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