Climax movie review

The only other Gaspar Noe film I ever saw was Irreversible way back in 2003. I didn't like it, and never wanted to see it again, but it had some grim moments that stuck with me. And I suspect that will be what happens with his new film Climax. It's not an easy sit, and it's often pretentious as hell, and I have no interest in ever watching it again. But it has some amazing stuff in it.

It's actually listed as a horror film, but it takes a long time to become one. Simple story has a French dance company doing rehearsals. Afterwards, they party, although somebody has spiked their bowl of sangria with LSD.

This leads to basically the mother of all bad trips. I had no plans to ever take LSD but after the back half of this movie I feel like I have still had the experience. On purpose the film becomes incredibly disorienting. There's really no story, and we don't learn much about any of the people(despite the film's worst sequence, a nearly interminable sequence of them all having inane  conversations with each other, pre-trip) but it's all about mood and imagery. There's a long stretch where the camera is upside down, and spinning so much you can't possibly tell what's going on. Much of the film is done in very long takes, including a dandy of an opening dance sequence. It's technically impressive, but doesn't really add anything to the film.

There is not a ton of violence(nothing at all like in Irreversible) but some pretty disturbing stuff still gets in, and it's all packed by a relentless techno soundtrack. A couple people walked out of my screening, and it's understandable. It's an assault. But it's made with an undeniable amount of skill. I'd certainly take this over that unwatchable Suspiria remake from last fall.

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