Movies set in the world of dance typically involve some type of competition, not drug-fuelled madness symbolizing the utter breakdown of society.
That, however, is the premise for “Climax”, the latest from controversial French director Gaspar Noe (“Enter the Void”, “Love”) in which a hip-hop dance rehearsal inside an empty school becomes a hellish, bloody horror show after the dancers (including Sofia Boutella of “The Mummy”) drink a mysterious concoction from a punchbowl that sends them into a psychedelic dreamscape where floors become ceilings, dance moves evolve into orgies and dancers wield knives and occasionally burst into flames.
In an interview with Vice, Noe sums up the underlying theme that drives the film. “Alcohol makes you stupid,” says the director. “Everyone says wine is the blood of Jesus, and maybe it opens up your mind when you have two glasses, but when you have two bottles, most people become stupid. They have blackouts, they become cruel towards everyone, they become aggressive. For me, my worst memories of collective or personal tragedies are all linked to alcohol abuse. Alcohol makes you stupid, stupid, stupid! ”
Drugs and alcohol, he says, switch off the other parts of the brain until all that’s left is “the reptilian brain, which is about dominance and survival instinct, and therefore about sexuality and reproduction.”
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Following its debut at Cannes — where it won the Art Cinema Award — “Climax” will screen at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival next month as one of TIFF’s “Midnight Madness” selections.
