Review of Vortex (2021) by Bertobellamy — 07 Oct 2022

Another stressful experiment by Gaspar Noé. 'Vortex' is a dramatic downward spiral of frustration and hopelessness. Dario Argento impresses as an old man trying to live many lives simultaneously despite his age.

But it is Françoise Lebrun who gives the most striking and somber performance by playing an old woman lost in the shadow of dementia. 'Vortex' sure plays some of the same notes as 'The Father,' but the tone is cruder.

Noé draws upon some visual resources to exasperate the viewer — is the split screen format diabolically trying to look like a film frame? — creating a sense of confusion and discomfort. It's like 'Climax' but slowed down to the minimum level, with some Haneke's 'Amour' elements in there.

My only complaint is the excessive runtime and the feeling that everything gets repetitive very quickly, but I guess that was his intent.