The Darkest Minds | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

The film leans into all of the book's worst impulses and, most disappointingly, gives star Amandla Stenberg nothing to do. The FX is on par with other YA films, but the disinterest in exploring this dystopia renders The Darkest Minds hollow.

[I]t isn't much of anything new, but must it be this boring? The Darkest Minds is stultifying -- a truly joyless experience of YA clichés and generic, licensed pop songs.

There's nothing that makes a dystopia seem less threatening than a shopping montage in a mall that's lit up by Christmas lights.

The Darkest Minds highlights something I've found increasingly troubling with Y.A. novels brought to the big screen: future adults hate kids.