Director Gaspar Noe is infamous among movie buffs for his violent, decadent films. He is probably most well-known for directing the film Irreversible which features a 9-minute, extremely realistic rape scene. I have not seen Irreversible and though I am curious, I gotta say that I'll probably never be in the mood to watch graphic depictions of assault.
Climax is the first Noe film I've seen and it has been called his most "accessible" film by movie critics. Even so, it is a doozy. I saw the film alone in a theatre with maybe 10 other audience members, four of whom walked out (one guy said "fuck that!" as he left, as if anyone cared about his opinion).
The film follows a troupe of French dancers who have a rehearsal in what appears to be a church or school basement. After the rehearsal, which is filmed in real time and is visually stunning to watch (the entire cast, with the exception of actress Sophia Boutella, are professional dancers), the dancers cut loose, drink, eat, and chat with one another. But all of a sudden, everyone simultaneously begins to feel weird...they quickly realize that someone has spiked their sangria with LSD or some other hallucinogenic drug.
From that moment, the party descends into a nightmare of paranoia, violence, questionably coercive sexual hookups, and absolute mayhem. Noe uses the camera to disorient the viewer, turning it upside down so it looks like the floor is on the ceiling, and following the dancers and they movie throughout the building, which is dimly lit in gaudy, fluorescent red and green lights.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading now!
I will give Climax this: it is visually stunning. The dance sequences, the camera work, and the lighting all add up to an intoxicating, immersive experience. Some might find it nausea-inducing, but I really dug it. The use of dancers instead of actors was a good choice as well, since actual dance sequences take up at least 20-30 minutes of the entire film (and they are truly amazing to watch). It also gives the film a lot of diversity in terms of race, sexual orientation, and gender expression which is really cool.
That said, I understand why some people walked out. Climax quickly becomes unnecessarily cruel. When the discovery of the spiked sangria first happens, one character who refused alcohol earlier because he doesn't drink is confronted and locked outside of the building in the snowy winter weather. Another character who wasn't drinking is confronted and when she reveals she's not drinking because she is pregnant, another female dancer calls her a liar and proceeds to knee her in the stomach and then kick her stomach when she falls down. As she begs for help, the other dancers gather around and scream at her to kill herself.
If you think that's bad, just wait until one of the young son of another dancer, probably 7 years old, who was watching the rehearsal sneaks out of his bed and is caught drinking the sangria. Mom, high as balls, locks him in the electrical closet, telling him not to touch the electric wires. Mom promptly loses the key to the closet and, of course, the power goes out and the dancers yell "Hahaha! Tito's fried" Tito's mom then commits suicide. Funnnnnnnn.
Still with me? There's also a scene where a male dancer makes out with his biological sister even though she tells him to stop and runs away crying while he chases her. There's another lesbian make-out that is, if not coercive, definitely not enthusiastically consensual.
There's also screaming (so, so much screaming), a dancer pissing themselves on the dance floor, a fistfight, and more! All of this debauchery and ruthlessness adds up to one big "why?" I'm fine with movie violence and cruelty if it serves even the smallest purpose, but Noe's thesis here appears to be "drugs are bad, mmmmkay?" And I have to wonder, does LSD actually cause this much of a freak-out? I mean, I guess if it's ingested in large doses and everyone else is taking it too it could lead to some crazy hallucinations, but you would think that people who have enough sense to either 1) call the police/an ambulance or 2) just go to their rooms and lock the door until they're sober again.
And the cherry on top of the bizarre sundae? You find out who spiked the sangria at the end when the person uses LSD eyedrops from a box that says "LSD" on it in big, black letters. Now, I'm not much of a drug user myself, so maybe I'm naive, but I don't think LSD comes in a box labeled "LSD". Maybe in France?
Overall, I'd give Climax an "A" for visuals, a "C-" for plot and a "B-" overall.
Grade: B-
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