Climax Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror
content warning: gore, death by suicide (discussed), drug/alcohol abuse, foul language, sexual content, self harm, nudity
Climax is a horror film that pulls inspiration from queer ball culture. A group of dancers are interviewed as part of an audition for an international touring company. Think A Chorus Line, but far more invasive. The dancers are asked about their sexuality, their history of drug use, and why they dance. Soon they’re living and rehearsing together. They celebrate after a long rehearsal, but discover that the sangria they all enjoyed is laced with LSD.
From the opening credits, Climax makes its intentions clear. These people will be destroyed. The film opens with the image of a woman stumbling onto screen, falling into the snow, and leaving a pool of blood around her as she writhes around in pain. The interviews, shown on an 80s-style TV, are bookended by a stack of VHS horror films on one side and genre fiction and psychology books on the other.
Climax is a film filled with life and movement that is ultimately about destruction. Writer/director Gaspar Noé fills the screen with constant movement. The camerawork on the dance floor is all done by hand, keeping even the most carefully planned shots and angles swaying slightly onscreen. The choreography is beautiful and chaotic, with so much happening it’s hard to just focus on one aspect of the dance. These dancers constantly move around each other.
When they pair off and go their separate ways, the edit jumps between a series of concurrent scenes. Everyone is tired of the action and wants to talk about what they know of each other. A black frame signals a jump to a new topic or pair. The alcohol is flowing, the drugs are coming out, and true personalities begin to shine through.
One of the charms of this film is the actual production. Noé cast dancers in this film to get his vision across. These performers are doing a mix of vogue femme and breakdancing that is highly specialized. The solution to needing very specific dancers is having the actors improvise the entire script. The screenplay is a five page outline; the dialogue is from the minds of the actors. It’s far more natural and believable that way. They shift between French and English depending on who is talking and it just feels real.
Climax is wild. I can’t think of another horror film quite like it. There have been horror films about dance before; even the Suspiria remake released the same year. There have been parties gone wrong horrors, horrors about sexuality and relationships, horrors about drug use, and horrors about artists living in isolation. I’ve never seen them all combined together in such a captivating way. The right lighting and camera angle can make anything terrifying and Gaspar Noé finds a way to showcase extremely talented dancers and make their moves terrifying. Let’s just say there’s a good reason horror has a history of casting dancers to play inhuman monsters.
Climax is streaming on Amazon Prime.
