Since his star-making role in Ari Aster’s Hereditary, Alex Wolff has crafted a remarkably entertaining filmography, with almost a dozen excellent, challenging performances from Pig to Oppenheimer under his belt before he turned 27. Ethan Berger’s directorial debut, The Line, puts Wolff in another great, albeit understated, role with his look at life in a fraternity.
The Line Review
Tom (Alex Wolff) has fully adopted the persona of a traditional frat guy at an unnamed Alabama university. He’s a reticent frat brother who follows whatever his brothers want of him. As a new rush class comes in, he’s torn between his moral compass as his fellow brothers (Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman and Bo Mitchell) aggressively haze an incoming pledge (Austin Abrams).
When tensions rise surrounding the abuse that the potential new frat brothers are facing, Tom meets a confident peer (Halle Bailey) who begins to shift his worldview. The two forge a special little bond that tests the ethics of his participation in hazing, which will eventually have disastrous consequences.
The only real problem with this is that Berger takes far too long to get to the central conflict. It has a sort of backward structure where we spend 70% of the film building up to the most exciting 30%. There’s some sort of benefit in this, in that we get to see much more of the dynamic between the frat guys, but it almost would’ve been better if the film was 10 minutes longer to balance everything out.
Berger attempts to make an aggressive takedown of toxic frat culture in his screenplay, but for the most part, he offers somewhat surface-level observations on what it’s like to be a part of a frat. He accurately nails down the grimy and annoying nature of the people surrounding Tom but doesn’t have much to say about what that means. The frat guys are awful but don’t have much motivation to be awful outside of being just a little evil.
Not to be missed are the performances of Wolff, Pullman, Mitchell, and Abrams. Each actor perfectly portrays a different personality in frat life, from the boisterous asshole to the quiet accomplice. Wolff perfectly transforms into a ridiculous type of slimeball which forces this stupid Southern accent in a pathetic attempt to fit in.
Pullman is incredibly sinister as the seemingly kind fraternity president with a real mean streak. It’s one of his best performances, and one of the few sins of The Line is not getting him enough to do. This is Bo Mitchell’s first big role, and he nails his performance here. He’s a complicated guy, a little pathetic but also cruel enough to fit in with his frat. The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey delivers a similarly enchanting performance. She’s let down a little bit by a script that washes her into a generic side character.
While The Line‘s script falters a bit in finding a complex exploration of its characters, he nails the ending. It’s a nice emotional conclusion to a ridiculously exciting third act and something that will leave audiences with complicated thoughts — an important thing given that the first two-thirds don’t feel particularly groundbreaking.
Is The Line worth watching?
With a terrific leading performance and a pitch-perfect showcase of the underworld of fraternity hazing, The Line stands out as a thriller to watch. It’s a little disappointing that it takes so long to get to the best moment of the film, but for those willing to sit through a unique character study, you won’t be disappointed with just how thrilling it becomes. With this, Wolff’s already excellent filmography continues to grow, and Ethan Berger has become a director to watch.
The Line is now in theaters.
The Line Review — Ethan Berger Offers an Intense Look at Frat Life in Alex Wolff-Led Thriller
The Line offers a terrifying look into the evils of hazing within fraternities. Banking off of its powerful performances and a thrilling conclusion, this is an unforgettable watch.
