Ben Wheatley: The lowdown on High-Rise

High-Rise is set in an alternative vision of Britain in the late 1970s, and the action takes place in a 40-storey tower block which houses 2,000 residents, divided along wealth lines.

With the super-rich enjoying decadent parties on the top floors, and the lower-class families relegated to levels below, the delicate equilibrium begins to disintegrate as the story unfolds.

Beginning as a civilised retreat from the trappings of London, the tower block gradually becomes a tribal, savage landscape, separated from the outside world.

Tom Hiddleston as Dr Robert Laing

Tom Hiddleston plays Dr Robert Laing, the newest tenant to take up residence on the 27th floor of the building.

He is detached as the chaos begins to unfold, but as the revolt from the lower floors begins to chip away at the very fabric of the building, he slowly gets pulled in.

The three leading male characters represent Freudian elements, with Dr Laing as the ego, the building’s architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons) as the super-ego, and documentary filmmaker Richard Wilder (Luke Evans) as the id.

Sienna Miller plays single mum Charlotte Melville, who quickly adapts to the new way of life within the building, along with Helen Wilder (Elizabeth Moss) the wife of camera-toting Richard Wilder.

The political undercurrent of High-Rise is thought to be Ballard’s prediction, writing in the 1970s, of a Thatcherite society – a dog-eat-dog landscape.

The opening line of the book – recreated in Wheatley’s film – alludes to this: “Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.”

High-Rise is in UK cinemas from Friday 18 March.