Gaspar Noé’s films feel like a bad trip. The 2010 film Enter the Void (which inspired A$AP Rocky’s “L$D” video) experiments with a psychedelic first-person perspective. This approach elevates the anxiety and confusion the protagonist feels into a visceral experience for viewers, violence and murder occurring during his DMT-induced hallucinations. Noé will explore the intriguing intersection of youth and horror once more in his new arthouse French-language film, Climax.
The film’s trailer depicts a dance troupe accidentally drinking red sangria laced with LSD during a rehearsal. The terrifying experience is complete with moral darkness: a small child also ingests the drug and is locked in a closet during his horrifying trip.
Critics are calling Climax Noé’s strongest work since his debut 1998 film I Stand Alone. “The action of this film is a kind of episodic series of spectacular tableaux, a horrendous decline into madness and infernal despair,” the Guardian wrote of Climax after its premiere at Cannes. Climax feels like an entirely new genre work, which we’re calling a “drug horror” film (think: Requiem For A Dream). The film has the chance of scoring some serious nominations. It will be distributed by the emerging Oscar-favorite studio A24.
Watch the trippy trailer for Climax below: