Timing, they say, is everything. When Noah Baumbach's White Noise had its premiere at Venice in 2022 and arrived on Netflix just weeks later, the world was still recovering from the pandemic. And, with a story built around a global threat, the film felt all too close to recent events.
Three years on, it's time for a re-appraisal of this dark comedy based on Don DeLillo's award-winning novel from 1985. A deadpan look at the affluent West and all its anxieties, it has a dreamlike quality and a top-drawer cast, headed by Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle, to make sure that the ideas and the laughs keep on coming.
Driver is a middle-aged academic married to Gerwig and, while the two seem happy enough, her behavior is causing concern. Seemingly hooked on a mysterious drug, her memory is failing but her family's efforts to find out more are thrown into disarray by an environmental disaster. The collision between a gasoline-filled truck and a train loaded with volatile toxic waste causes a poison cloud and, along with thousands of others, they join an exodus to escape — but are still exposed to toxins in the air.
A dark subject but, while Baumbach never skirts around the serious issues, he stays faithful to the book by balancing them with truly absurdist humor. Driver's academic, for instance, specializes in a ludicrous discipline called Hitler Studies, yet speaks no German, while everybody around him is afraid of death but desperately holds on to the idea because it's the only certainty in their lives. What sounds like an obtuse watch is full of sharp observations and bone-dry humor, as well as great performances from its cast.
Another familiar face in the line-up is British actress Jodie Turner-Smith, who has the small but pivotal role of a mysterious young neuro-chemist, Driver's first choice for help and information when he discovers his wife’s stash of drugs. Finding her, however, turns out to be tricky because, although everybody on campus believes she's a near-genius, she also prefers to attract as little attention as possible.
Best-known for starring alongside Daniel Kaluuya in her breakout film, Queen And Slim (2019), the statuesque Turner-Smith has been seen more recently on the small screen in Apple TV Plus's surprise hit of 2024, Bad Monkey. The show, which scored 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, received the thumbs up for a second season just a couple of months after the conclusion of its first outing. The latest from the success machine that is Bill Lawrence — Shrinking also has a third season on the way and there are rumors of the return of Scrubs – the show stars Vince Vaughn as Yancy, a former detective with the Miami Police Department who solves murders while working as a health inspector in The Keys.
Turner-Smith plays another enigmatic role, this time The Dragon Queen, who reputedly has magic powers. Or does she? She’s just part of the glittering cast, including John Ortiz, Michelle Monaghan and Rob Delaney, that’s made the show such a favorite, as well as figuring strongly in season one’s cliffhanger ending.
Whether she’ll be back for season two is open to question but, while there’s no definitive word yet on the rest of the cast, Vaughn is due to return.
For now, we’ll have to watch this space, but with Lawrence’s Midas touch currently at full throttle, it’s only a matter of time before we hear more about plans for the next season of what has become a genuine must-watch.
White Noise is available on Netflix in the US and UK. Season one of Bad Monkey is currently on Apple TV Plus.
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