Enter the Void: A Spiritual, Hedonistic Nightmare With Room for Hope
Enter the Void (2009) has been my favourite Gaspar Noé movie since its release. It is exceptional in his filmography to that point, dialling down exploitation and shock value enough to let its story breathe, but riding the same nail-biting, high energy wave of disturbing violence and sexuality in societal fringes that Noé made his cinematic signature.
I’ve yet to see Lux Æterna (2019), but while Climax (2018) and Vortex (2021) (a wholly different kind of entry in his filmography) are excellent in different ways, neither feels like a “giant” story or movie — the kind that will continue to stand out over the decades on its own merits, and not become a curiosity of its time.
Older Noé entries like Irreversible (2020) and I Stand Alone (1998) are powerfully disturbing and unforgettable, but their genuine shock value accounts for a lot of their visceral impact. Both are gut-wrenching, but strong viewer reactions to their most graphic scenes does not necessarily equate to artistic power.
Enter The Void is on a different wavelength. I would include it in my top ten movies of the century. I have watched it several times and took something new from each viewing, with my previous viewing a couple of years back.
