The Darkest Minds

A disease sweeps through the United States and kills most of the country's children. The minority who survive discover that they have developed unusual abilities, and the government, treating them as a threat, rounds them up and holds them in camps. Ruby Daly, sixteen and among the most powerful of those detained, escapes and falls in with other young runaways searching for somewhere safe. It soon becomes clear to the group that hiding will not be enough, and that the adults who hold power have deceived them.

The film is a young-adult dystopian adventure from director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, best known until then for the Kung Fu Panda films; it follows Kung Fu Panda 3 and Panda Paws as the fourth feature she directed. Chad Hodge wrote the screenplay, and Shawn Levy, Daniel S. Levine and Dan Cohen produced for 20th Century Fox and 21 Laps Entertainment. Amandla Stenberg plays Ruby, with Harris Dickinson, Patrick Gibson, Skylan Brooks, Mandy Moore and Miya Cech among the cast.

The Darkest Minds was released in July 2018 and runs 105 minutes. Made for about 34 million dollars, it took in roughly 41 million worldwide, so box office returns fell short of its production budget. On IMDb it holds 5.7 out of 10 from around 40,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7 out of 10 from roughly 3,000 votes; a film critics' score of 4.1 out of 10 from 139 reviews places it below both audience measures.