THE LINE (2024) - Mark Reviews Movies

The Line, Utopia Distribution

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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 17, 2024

The Line isn't the first movie to deal with hazing, that humiliating ritual of fraternity houses to prove a pledge's dedication to the club, and actually, co-writer/director Ethan Berger's film isn't really about that practice until the third act. This is less about the potential horrors of physical and psychological violence being enacted by and against a group of young men in the name of tradition. It's more about the individual and group psychology that could lead to such acts being done in the first place.

Our entryway into the world of a frat on an unnamed Florida college campus is Tom Backster (Alex Wolff), who has had enough living at home with his mother (played by Cheri Oteri), working at a restaurant, and not doing much of anything else during summer break between his freshman and sophomore years. He's desperate to return to school, if only to reunite with his "brothers" at the fraternity. The poor guy doesn't seem to have much of a life outside of this insulated group.

That's a running theme for some of the other characters in or pledging for this fraternity. The most obvious case is Tom's roommate at the frat house. He's Mitch (Bo Mitchell), who went through the pledging process with Tom last year. They bonded enough that Tom considers the guy to be his best friend. He seems genuine about that, despite the fact that Tom also hopes Mitch's father (played by John Malkovich), the CEO of a prosperous company, might help him get his foot in the door for a corporate career in the near future.

Tom's argument is that the frat isn't about making friends, partying, or any of the other social stuff involved in membership. It's about networking for his future, since the frat has alums across the corporate and political worlds, including a few U.S. Presidents. That's what Tom tells his skeptical mother, at least, and, perhaps, himself.

The reality is a bit clearer as soon as Tom returns to campus. At their last meal of the summer together, his mother notes that she doesn't understand why her son has adopted a Southern accent, and as soon as he's back with Mitch and the rest, we get it. He's trying to fit in with that drawl, because his friend has one, as does the fraternity's president Todd (Lewis Pullman). Todd thinks Tom shows some promise as a leader, and just think of how many connections, not to mention friends, Tom could make if he could take over Todd's position when he graduates.

Most of the film watches as Tom and the rest of the brothers go about their business. It's often dull, going to class and sitting in rooms and drinking for the hell of it. There's an occasional party or two, but as much as guys like Mitch talk about how much fun they'll have and how many young women they'll end up having sex with at these parties, the gatherings don't look particularly enjoyable for them or successful in the other department. They're just sort of routine, like the conversations about which students to accept as pledges or other matters of running the frat. With Mitch, there's a lot of jealousy and resentment simmering beneath his party-boy exterior, too.

Nobody at the frat likes Mitch, except for Tom, because the guy is so loud, so insulting, and so unaware of his flaws and how much disdain the others have for him. Tom initially stands up for his friend, but gradually, the shared opinion of the other brothers makes him less likely to defend Mitch.

The film becomes mostly a study of group-think by way of Tom, whose thoughts and ambitions and personal connections shift with the tide of whomever he's trying to impress at the moment. Mitch was once that guy, given his family connections and the fact that they do seem to be friends. Soon enough, it's Todd, who take Tom under his wing and is as tired of Mitch's behavior as the other guys in the frat. A minor outsider exception is Annabelle (Halle Bailey), a fellow student in a literature course whom Tom likes and with whom he wants to spend time, and his time with her might give us a glimpse of the real Tom, who is considerate, thoughtful, and feeling lost.

It's telling, of course, that Annabelle quickly disappears from this story—not because, as we might anticipate, she's not looking for anything serious with Tom, but because his "brothers" keep saying disparaging things about her to him. He'd rather dismiss an intelligent young woman who could introduce him to other interesting people than to risk the frat guys talking about him the way they talk about Mitch.

The subject of hazing, which is prohibited by the college, does arise here, as the new group of pledges are tested and challenged. One of them stands out from the rest. He's Gettys (Austin Abrams), who doesn't hide his irritation with the envious Mitch and is clever enough to know that the fraternity members can only take their rituals so far. What he, Tom, and a group of the other frat brothers don't realize here is just how far any one of them will take things when their fragile sense of power and control is directly challenged.

Berger and co-screenwriter Alex Russek are smart about the framing and goals of this story, which isn't broadly critical of hazing or even a stereotypical view of fraternities and their members. The Line gets at those critiques, to be sure, but the film does so by examining the underlying mentality of peer pressure and being desperate to fit in—no matter the cost.

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