FILM REVIEW
TWISTERS
Rated PG-13
122 Minutes
Released July 19th
Twisters was filmed in Oklahoma, part of a region called Tornado Alley which spans from Texas into South Dakota. Of the 1423 tornadoes in the US in 2023, most of them occurred in that region, causing mass devastation and tragedy. The routes of tornadoes have changed recently and continue to change, and numbers have increased. Whether this is due to natural forces, or the El Nino-El Nina shift, or to climate change is yet unknown but is being studied by scientists and storm chasers.
Storm chasing, especially of tornadoes, is a phenomenon, and tornadoes are magnets for tourists. Tornado tour operators carry high-paying customers on “tornado safaris” into the path of the storms for a few minutes of thrills after hours on the road. Storm chasers are highly skilled and experienced, seldom get closer than a couple of miles from a twister, and always have a preplanned escape route, so don’t try it on your own – instead, you can go watch this movie.
The story is excellent. There is a lot going on, but the narrative is wrapped in an emotional package that the ensemble carries seamlessly, with all the players working together. The film deftly encompasses the terror and destruction of tornadoes from alternate points of view – scientific, thrill/publicity seekers, weather professionals, and community, and it does so with personal tie-ins for the characters. The cast seems natural when showing fear and horror as the storm rages around them. Through the skilled cinematography by Dan Mindel and editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire, you only realize later that the actors were not performing in real tornadoes.
This isn’t just a story of survivors, thrill-seekers, and regular people caught up in a catastrophe; it’s also a tour de force in recreating the effects of this terrifying weather phenomenon for moviegoers. Director Lee Isaac Chung grew up in rural Arkansas, within Tornado Alley. His Oscar-nominated autobiographical film, Minari (2020), told of his childhood in an immigrant family struggling to establish an existence on a small farm. Chung had also directed an episode of The Mandalorian, which gave him a chance to work with special effects. Chung says that producers selected him to direct Twisters because they knew he could “understand the sense of place,”
Chung enlisted tornado specialist Kevin Kelleher, who provided scientific details to make sure the story remained authentic technically and physically. “But,” Kelleher says, “at the end of the day, there’s no research that we’re aware of that people are seriously doing to try to affect tornadoes. Not yet, anyway.”
Chung’s cast is well-chosen. Glen Powell’s “Tyler” undergoes a distinct character arc, and he plays it well. Powell began his career with Guest Star roles on television and small roles in major films, and now his career as a leading man is firmly cemented. Daisy Edgar-Jones grew up in London, but she is a natural as “Kate,” the tornado scientist from Oklahoma. Edgar-Jones had already been immersed in Southern US culture in her role as “The Marsh Girl” in Where the Crawdads Sing, shot in 2021 in Louisiana. “Javi” is a breakout role for Anthony Ramos, who starred onstage in the musicals Hamilton and In the Heights. Tyler’s crew are memorable characters, played by Brandon Perea (Nope), Sasha Lane, Katy O’Brian, and Tunde Adebimpe. David Corenswet (the new “Superman”) plays an uptight scientist in Javi’s crew.
The cast had assistance in believability by the extreme conditions rendered on set and by the special effects crew, who used wind machines, a jet engine from a plane, gallons of water, ice blowers, flying debris, smoke, complex stunt choreography, and wire work. Mother Nature also assisted with some real storms and tornadoes. Although the set had to be shut down at one point when an actual tornado formed behind them, it was reported that Chung took off with a storm chaser consultant and chased it. Chung noted that the locals who were hired as extras for a tornado scene were asked by an assistant director, “Has anyone here ever been in a situation like this before?” and they all raised their hands. A scene in a movie theatre really hits home to audience members who are sitting in…a movie theatre.
Tornadoes are something that humans still cannot control, and that can be terrifying. This is really a monster movie in that sense. Showing the tragic aftermath of tornadoes is vital and is done well here: towns left in shreds, whole neighborhoods wiped off the face of the earth, people stumbling through the wreckage with the look of “this was never supposed to happen to me.”
It’s sad that we cannot seem to create such an in-your-face scary narrative for our climate crisis. We have a hard time thinking in large enough temporal increments to sense the terror that should light a fire under humanity about our planet.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
