Vortex

Life is a short party that will soon be forgotten. 

While the previous films of the France-based Argentinian filmmaker Gaspar Noé (Irréversible, Enter the Void, Climax) attracted notoriety for their nightmarish and hallucinogenic imagery and subject matter, Vortex is grounded in the real-world tragedy of an elderly couple in decline due to the onset of dementia. A mature and sensitive, but no less powerful and arresting, work of cinema, Vortex has as much in common with Michael Haneke’s 2012 masterpiece Amour as it does with Noé previous films. 

Shot in split screen Vortex follows the daily rituals of an unnamed eldery couple played to perfection by veteran French actor Françoise Lebrun and cult Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento, who is a revelation at the age of 80 in his first leading acting role. 

Vortex is an unflinching yet highly humanistic work about physical and mental decline, and the difficulty of living with loved ones who are slipping away.