Climaxis the 2018 psychological horror from Argentine-Parisian filmmaker,Gaspar Noé, who wrote, directed, and co-edited this brutal, hot mess of a film.Climaxis inspired by the tale of a real French dance troupe in 1996. After a successful dance rehearsal, the troupe celebrated with an after party where their beverages had been unknowingly spiked with LSD. Though it isbasedon a true event, the madness that occurs inClimaxlikely exceeds the nightmares of all the dancers from the real troupe. In Noé’s version, after the troupe realizes their sangria has been spiked with LSD, they rapidly enter a downward spiral (more like a black hole, really) of violent mania that does not relent until the movie is over. The worst part of the film may be that the audience is isolated in their viewing experience, with no characters to root for or latch onto for safety.
An Unusual Shoot
Climaxwas created via the unique process of a 15-day chronological shoot, aone-page outlineof the film for reference, andnoscript. Noé shared that shooting chronologically helped to “follow the evolution” and adapt naturally to the script-less story. The 24 member ensemble cast, who were made to improvise their lines, were not even actors. They were all professional dancers with no prior acting experience, except for membersSofia Boutellaas Selva andSouheila Yacoubas Lou, who had acted before.
This open-ended formula was quite a brilliant strategy on Noé’s part, since the subject matter is about exploring what could happen when a group of people lose complete control via a hallucinogenic. In retrospect, having premeditated scenarios unfold under the circumstances of a messed up acid trip seems completely contradictory to that experience the cast would be trying to convey. The cast improvising the whole film, paired with the chronological shooting, adds a meta layer toClimaxthat the horror and psychological upheaval are rooted in. The real cast themselves didn’t even know how their characters would turn out in this chaotic situation of tripping against their will as a group. This leaves the audience hopeless as it tears apart the natural desire to want to root for someone or attach oneself to a character. Especially because the film is not positioned from anyone’s direct perspective. There are no set directions or moral agendas being followed by anyone, so nobody can act as relief when the going gets tough. The mayhem then feels all the more intense and terrifying.
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The Text in the Film Isolates the Viewer From the Action
Noé also utilizes text in a way that plays into the notion that the viewer is being lured in just to be left out, alone and afraid. There are almost a “Part 1 and 2” to the film based on the placement of text. As the after-party is just starting to get fun and exciting, mid-movie credits disrupt the captivation that was created by the enthralling dancing. The movie picks up again quickly after these credits, though text cards interrupt the film down the line again. The text cards contain ominous and provocative phrases such as “DEATH IS AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE” and “LIFE IS A COLLECTIVE IMPOSSIBILITY.” This causes viewers to rethink or totally abandon whatever connection they were starting to build to the scenes on screen just to be roped back in to the hysteria, right as a thought about the text was on the brink of formulating.
Climax’s cinematography add the final layer to the visceral distress and audience isolation. The cinematography consists of many long tracking shots. The opening scene is an eight-minute single take, and later features longer shots that range anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Including an iconic birds eye view shot of a thrilling yet rampant dance sequence that hints that a tonal shift in the troupe’s energy has occurred. The film is in constant motion, with the frame frequently rotating and shifting perspective. Once the viewer even tries to begin processing an event, the camera has already moved on to the turmoil that is occurring with three other characters. In aninterviewwith Collider, Boutella shares that on other projects she typically pays attention to the other characters. This was not the case withClimax. “I had to focus just solely on mine because it was too much to take on board.” If Boutella couldn’t connect with other characters while making the film alongside them, audiences are certainly left to their own devices.
It’s an Emotional Rollercoaster
The pacing ofClimaxis so rapid and dynamic that while one can never fully immerse themselves in a single character’s experience, they are still completely in the throes of the entire psychotic incident. Viewers are left more unstable and unable to hold onto anybody more than ever.Climaxturns the phrase “emotional rollercoaster” on its head, providing an extraordinarily abstracted yet enveloping, and overall unnerving viewing experience.
