Set in a dystopian-utopian future after “insert standard destructive event that wiped out the previous humanity”, the world population is now collected into a small community (known as The Community). No longer is there any violence, crime, memories of the past, or aspects that could cause conflict (such as race, religion, nations, emotions, colors, etc…). Instead everyone lives in harmony; never swearing, using precise language, and always taking their daily “medication”. During a coming of age ceremony, our protagonist Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is assigned by the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) a one-of-a-kind task to become the receiver of memory. His job is to mentally receive all past knowledge from The Giver (Jeff Bridges), the only person in The Community that’s allowed to remember the world’s history (so that he may advise the elders on difficult decisions). Jonas’ world is soon thrown for a loop as he learns of the wonders (and horrors) of a world with freedom and emotion, along with the dark secrets of The Community that are hidden in plain sight.
There are two primary aspects that give The Giver its refreshing edge. The first may seem of minor importance, yet is an aspect that changes the whole dynamic of The Giver’s setting. In similar dystopian plots, the protagonists eventually realize (whether accidentally or on purpose) that their wonderful society is in fact an oppressive, controlling government. It’s then that the protagonists begin fighting the system in hopes of bringing freedom and choice to themselves, their loved ones, and/or the people (whether they succeed in causing the government’s downfall depends on the cynicism of the story). Here in The Giver it’s the government itself that not only grants, but insists Jonas gain his rebellious powers. The government’s reasoning is…actually logical; since no one has any memories of the past except for The Giver, it’s up to him to give the elders advice if a problem arises they cannot solve (even in a “perfect” government, past disasters may repeat themselves). Simply put, our protagonist is given choice, freedom and the right to break laws for a practical reason; reinvigorating clichés into interesting plot-points (such as Jonas lying to his friends and mother {who is also a law enforcer} because the higher-ups wish for them to remain oblivious to his knowledge).
The second unique aspect is the difficult choice dealt with throughout the film: to either live in a peaceful world without freedom and emotion, or to live in a world full of emotion and senses, yet bring back the worst of humanity’s evils. When teaching Jonas about the wonders of the world (color, music, family, love, etc…) The Giver also shows him the evil (though he is quite reluctant to do so). At first he starts off minor (showing ivory hunters killing elephants) but then unintentionally reveals the horrors of war, murder, and absolute chaos. I actually wished they went even further in showing just how cruel humanity can be, making Jonas’ choice a whole lot more difficult (though I guess showing him as little as possible was The Giver’s intention). None the less, the reasons for having The Community are shown to hold notable justification.
The Chief Elder is our film’s main antagonist, yet she is not a cruel dictator wanting absolute control and order, but instead someone who knows all about the worst of humanity (it’s heavily hinted that she’s also seen humanities’ past) and feels The Community’s way to truly be the best course of action. The film presents multiple ways of looking at the difficult choice, summed up wonderfully in a heated discussion between the Chief Elder and The Giver. For example, (SPOILERS) to control population growth The Community disposes of its elderly and babies (painlessly through injection) who are unfit to support their society. The Community also control people’s emotions through medical injections, so that while people can briefly feel, they cannot emote deeper sentiments such as love. The Chief Elder counters these decisions, saying they dispose of the weakest people so not to overpopulate while also using the medication to remove negative feelings of anger, hatred, and psychotic thoughts (“have you ever seen a child starve because there’s not enough food…or a person step on another’s neck simply to get a better view?”) The Community may lack deeper emotions and freedom, but also lacks war, cruelty, destruction, abuse, rape, torture, prejudice, bias, bullying, and all “unnecessary” deaths. People still possess feelings and personalities, children play games and have fun, there’s enough food, water, and land, and everybody (well, almost everybody) live extended lives.