Climax
2018, 95 minutes, Digital, R
France, Belgium, United States, Switzerland, Monaco
Language: French, English
Director: Gaspar Noé
Cast: Sofia Boutella
Distributor: A24
From director Gaspar Noé (Irreversible; Enter the Void; Love) comes a hypnotic, hallucinatory, and ultimately hair-raising depiction of a party that descends into delirium over the course of one wintry night. In Climax, a troupe of young dancers gathers in a remote and empty school building to rehearse. Following an unforgettable opening performance lit by virtuoso cinematographer Benoît Debie (Spring Breakers; Enter the Void) and shot by Noé himself, the troupe begins an all-night celebration that turns nightmarish as the dancers discover they’ve been pounding cups of sangria laced with potent LSD. Tracking their journey from jubilation to chaos and full-fledged anarchy, Noé observes crushes, rivalries, and violence amid a collective psychedelic meltdown. Starring Sofia Boutella (Atomic Blonde) and a cast of professional dancers, Climax is Noé’s most brazen and visionary statement yet.
“Gaspar Noé’s remarkable psychedelic ride is his most focused achievement, a concise package of sizzling dance sequences and jolting developments that play like a slick mashup of the Step Up franchise and Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, not to mention the disorienting cinematic trickery of Noé’s own provocative credits.”
— Eric Kohn, IndieWire
“The director’s technical bona fides, impishly tasteless humour, and predilection for shock effects are channelled into the most liberating, intensely physical filmmaking of his career.”
— Lawrence Garcia, Cinema Scope
“I was shocked to discover that I was actually… touched. Climax is a small miracle, and if this is Noé going soft (for him, of course), that might actually be a very good thing for the movies.”
— Emily Yoshida, New York Magazine (Vulture)
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
Cannes Film Festival, Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Toronto International Film Festival
International Film Festival Rotterdam
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