Vortex

From the legendary provocateur Gasper Noé (Irreversible, Climax), comes an unexpected turn, a subtle and controlled depiction of the last days of an elderly couple stricken by dementia. The wife (Françoise Lebrun) is in the last stages of her illness, her partner (played by horror legend Dario Argento, Suspiria) is unable to accept or concede his inability to cope as things begin to fall apart.

And yet to despite the subtlety and thoughtfulness of Noé’s depiction of the couple’s plight, Vortex is immediately obvious as one of his works: from his use of split screen filmmaking last seen in Lux Æterna now used to follow and contrast the wanderings of husband and wife, to a structure that thematically and formally evokes his breakthrough film Irreversible’s tagline, Time Destroys Everything. Bleakly stunning.