Overview
A night of dance spirals into chaos as madness takes hold.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Breakneck
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- hypnotic
- nightmarish
- oppressive
- late night horror viewing
- experimental cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Gaspar Noé's technically brilliant direction, distinctive visual design, music, choreography, and performances while finding the story and violence divisive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The camera follows the dancers through prolonged, technically demanding passages as rehearsal and party deteriorate.
The dancers remain trapped together while an unidentified drugging turns communal celebration into escalating paranoia and psychosis.
The party moves between sensations of paradise and hell, reinforced by the film's explicit contrast between blissful dance and nightmarish violence.
The dancers' physical performances, throbbing techno, and vivid red-and-green imagery make altered consciousness the film's dominant experience.
Films like Climax, and why
The Shining
Shared psychological horror, escalating group paranoia, claustrophobic confinement, and formally daring visual style.
Enter the Void
Shared drug-fueled disorientation, surreal intensity, bodily excess, and nightmarish descent into psychological terror.
Suspiria
Shared dance-centered physicality, ecstatic musical energy, oppressive atmosphere, and extreme emotional intensity.
The Beach House
Shared ensemble breakdown, intoxicating sensory design, social panic, and transgressive horror.
Movie Details
- Director
- Gaspar Noé
- Release Date
- 2018-09-19
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (2411)
Cast
- Sofia Boutella
- Romain Guillermic
- Souheila Yacoub
- Kiddy Smile
- Claude-Emmanuelle Gajan-Maull
- Giselle Palmer
- Taylor Kastle
- Thea Carla Schøtt
- Sharleen Temple
- Lea Vlamos
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Climax about?
- A French dance troupe's celebratory night becomes a hallucinatory descent into paranoia, violence, and collective psychosis.
- What is Climax like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Climax as breakneck, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Climax violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Climax as graphic.
- What did critics think of Climax?
- Critics broadly praised Gaspar Noé's technically brilliant direction, distinctive visual design, music, choreography, and performances while finding the story and violence divisive.
- Which films are like Climax?
- Films with a similar feel include The Shining, Enter the Void, Suspiria, and The Beach House.
- How long is Climax?
- Climax runs 97 minutes.
- Where can I watch Climax?
- In United States, Climax streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
