Enter the Void

Gaspar Noé tried to make something like “2009: A Life Odyssey” in his typical psychedelic fashion. After the (very) decent start with the key plot twist, however, the film descends into boring, protracted and aimless flicking from one “before and after” episode to another, which doesn’t develop said key event in any way. It’s the same visually and narratively original style he used to spice up and enhance the story in Irréversible, but misused for self-serving pseudo-intellectual masturbation. (02/01/2011)

I would be hard-pressed to find a more psychedelic, experimental and depressing picture in the world of cinema, and in this respect it is certainly an exceptional achievement. I was most impressed by the last flashback to the traumatic experience of the tragic car accident when both siblings lost their parents. I'll probably have the images of Linda screaming in terror in front of my eyes for a long time. Otherwise, however, it was sometimes a bit too drawn out for my taste and, paradoxically, in some respects a bit cheesy. (65%) (09/05/2022)

I simply have to appreciate Gaspar Noé for his innovative approach to filmmaking, presenting viewers with something completely new and not shying away from depicting explicit content, especially sex, although the same goes for violence in his films. Unfortunately, in terms of content, his films just don't resonate with me much. (16/11/2016)

When the opening credits are the most impressive part of a 161-minute movie, something is simply wrong. Enter the Void is a silly, primordially shocking and self-absorbed festival of nonsense, that is, to top it all off, excruciatingly long and painfully tedious. Everything it manages to impress with, happens in the first half hour, followed by almost endless introspection, with utterly ridiculous dialogues and a banal story, all wrapped up in psychedelic robes. If I use one simile in line with this movie’s content, I would compare watching it to a girl not wanting to get off you after mutually climaxing, and casually kept your dick in her hand, trying to pull you off for two more hours in the same position. Tedious as fuck! There is almost nothing to complain about the audiovisual experience in the first hour, but after an hour even that gets boring, and all the POV camera zooms, and the transitions become extremely repetitive and annoying. And last but not least, the potential that Tokyo as a location for a movie, with all the interesting aspects it specifically offers. is absolutely wasted here – the whole of Tokyo, or even Japan, is reduced to a place with a few neon-lit streets and nothing more, so the movie could have been set basically anywhere in the world and the result would have been exactly the same. Oh yeah, it is a severe disappointment. If Noé hadn't tried to turn this into an erotic drama with a nod to Tibetan Buddhism, and just made an unpretentious straight-up porno with a polished audiovisual look, he would have done much better. I give it a better 1 star. (18/02/2021)

An incredibly smooth film trip. At the end I felt like I was falling into absolute emptiness. Although the 140 minutes are far from flawless and do leave you shaking your head in places, this mixture of hallucinogenic trips, porn and existential hangovers is simply one of the highlights of this year. I agree with those who would rather not see what happens when the first circle closes... but it doesn't change much about the mental crater. (29/04/2010)