Dance is everything, even when it’s deranged, as teased in the official trailer for A24’s Climax.
Throughout the trailer for Gaspar Noe’s film, a troupe of young dancers are shown gathering in an empty school building to rehearse their routines. What first appears to be a celebration filled with fun music and choreography soon turns into a nightmare once the dancers realize their cups of sangria are tainted with potent LSD.
“Something’s kicking in,” one of the dancers is overheard saying, as Sofia Boutella (Atomic Blonde) begins asking others what’s wrong, only to soon feel the side effects from the drug herself.
The hallucinatory depiction of a night party descended into delirium premiered during this year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, where it received top honors. The Hollywood Reporter’s film critics dubbed Noe’s film as “an artful picture of an earthly creative paradise followed by a ghastly fall into physical torment.” Meanwhile, Noe — who shot the film in 15 days to meet the Cannes deadline — told THR that “the first half of Climax is really about the joy of living. But the second half is about the nightmare of living.”
Apart from directing the film, Noe also serves as the film’s writer. Benoit Debie (Spring Breakers; Enter the Void) serves as the film’s cinematographer. Brahim Chioua, Richard Grandpierre, Vincent Maraval and Edouard Weil produce.
Sarah Belala, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub also star.
Climax is set to premiere in France on Sept. 18 with a release date for the U.S. to be announced.
