Gaspar Noé’s latest film is a twisting, squirming ball of psychedelic physicality … and we’re here for it. Climax, which claims to be the director’s “most brazen and visionary statement yet” in its press materials, looks like a head-melting descent into total madness, if the new trailer is to be believed.
Premiering during the Director’s Fortnight of Cannes, the film won the Art Cinema Award and was quickly snatched up by A24 for U.S. distribution—a good sign, given the production and distribution company’s sterling record at acquiring films such as Ex Machina and The Witch. Still, Climax looks like it could be even more transgressive than either of those films, which is saying something.
The action of Climax takes place in a “remote and empty school building,” where a troupe of hip-hop dancers determined to make it to the Big Time have sequestered themselves for training, but mostly partying. The events all seem to take place during one night, in an ill-fated party with a punch bowl spiked with powerful psychedelics. You can imagine how things probably unfold from there, as all manner of past grievances and units of jealousy come bubbling to the surface. We can only imagine that it will end with a scene of carnage, the survivors stumbling out into the cold to face the hard light of day. Central to the plot is likely the character played by Sofia Boutella, of The Kingsman and The Mummy fame, the rest of the characters all being portrayed by professional dancers.
Climax is still listed as simply “coming soon” in the U.S., although it has a Sept. 19, 2018 release date in France. We can probably expect to see it in the U.S. shortly thereafter.