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Vortex

100 Movies of 2021

Vortex

2021

Gaspar Noé

Dario Argento, Françoise Lebrun, Alex Lutz, Kylian Dheret ...

7.0

2,213

Drama The story follows an elderly couple. He has heart problems and she suffers from Alzheimer's. A look close to the reality of this marriage that tries to deal with its diseases and the passage of time.

	Media	Author	Review
		Xan Brooks The Guardian	"In terms of scope, ambition and execution, it’s one of the finest pictures Gaspar Noé has made (...) 'Vortex' is deliberate, pitiless and perfectly acted in a loose, improvisational style (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Eric Kohn IndieWire	"A grounded, emotional variation of 'Amour,' as well as the the most sensitive and accessible work from a filmmaker for whom those descriptors rarely apply."
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"The director's sixth feature comes on as more restrained than his previous transgressions, but its portrait of old age is still an excuse to rub our noses in devastation."
		Jessica Kiang The Playlist	"This is by far Noé’s most somber and mature work, and also perhaps his most accessible (...) a dignified, sometimes desperate tribute to, as the dedication reads, 'all those whose minds will decompose before their hearts'"
		Jason Solomons The Wrap	"With its uncommonly human touch and restless, unflinching visual aesthetic, “Vortex” might well be Noe’s finest and most thoughtful work."
		Phil de Semlyen Time Out	"While his film gradually pummels you, it can't match 'The Father' for impact or insight. As it grinds towards its slightly contrived ending, it does start to feel like rubbernecking (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Boyd van Hoeij The Hollywood Reporter	"It feels like a more mature Noé has arrived, one who stays calmer and is less manipulative than Haneke was in Amour but with a similarly impactful ending"
		Jonathan Romney Screendaily	"It’s [Noé's] most mature film, an unabashedly and audaciously experimental work (...) The performances, with a strong degree of improvisation, are extraordinary"
		Todd McCarthy Deadline	"A bracing, depressing, realistic and altogether sobering insight into what your grandparents, parents and, one day, you will have to face if you live long enough (...) it’s certain you haven’t seen anything quite like it either."
		Jason Gorber rogerebert.com	"A decidedly moving and engaging film (...) A movie that’s extremely effective at bringing us into the world of these characters while its filmmaking simultaneously makes us feel disjointed and unsettled"
		Rory O'Connor The Film Stage	"At 145 minutes, few locations, and very little dialogue, this unflinching look at the fate that awaits us is anything but expeditious (...) a radical film with as much capacity to shock as it does to burden the tear ducts"
		Brianna Zigler Paste Magazine	"[Its] utter undaunted misery amounts to needless cruelty (...) 'Vortex', while visually captivating, only functions as a window through which to look at death detached from the beauty of life"
		Glenn Kenny rogerebert.com	"One leaves "Vortex" feeling cleansed by fire. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Martin Kudlac Screen Anarchy	"The lucidity and documentary formalism make 'Vortex' an oeuvre that will likely find appreciation outside Noé's fanbase"
		Bilge Ebiri Vulture	"What makes [it] so cruel is what makes it so honest. All too often, films about such struggles try to sugarcoat their stories (...) Nobody gets to 'go to a better place' in 'Vortex'. And yet the film is sublime"
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"Gaspar Noé is up to his old tricks, and some new ones (...) It's another Noé death trip, in other words, and perhaps his most powerfully uncompromising"
		Luke Y. Thompson AV Club	"Noé's splendid [film] explores a more conventional, but no less harrowing horror —old age (...) 'Vortex' looks unsparingly at characters at the end of life, and finds their experiences as scary as any traditional"
		Lex Briscuso SlashFilm	"Gaspar Noe's latest is softer but no less arresting than his usual, making it one of his best (...) It's overwhelmingly his most thoughtful work yet (...) Noé is no stranger to the harsh realities of life
		Caitlin Quinlan Empire	"Strong performances carry this unyielding portrait of dementia and elderly suffering, but its relentless efforts to inflict sorrow and pain can feel overdone (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Pat Brown Slant	"Merciless but affecting, 'Vortex' suggests that one respite from the loneliness of life lived in the shadow of death is the realm of dreams (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		David Katz Cineuropa	"With an astounding sense of taste and maturity, Noé uses the simple formal strategy of a split screen to embody this end-of-life struggle

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