Enter The Void -2009- Review

The film follows Oscar, a small-time American drug dealer living in Tokyo. After being set up by police during a club raid, he is shot and killed. Instead of ending, the story continues from his disembodied point of view: his consciousness floats through Tokyo, revisiting memories, watching his sister Linda, and drifting through the city, unable to interact but able to observe.

The title refers to the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) concept: the void between death and rebirth. The film simulates that limbo.

Often overlooked is the aural assault of the film. The score is composed by Thomas Bangalter, one-half of Daft Punk. But do not expect “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

Bangalter’s score for Enter the Void -2009- is a dark, droning, electronic hum. It sounds like a dying spaceship. At moments of euphoria (the opening credits, the birth scene), it lifts into trance anthems. At moments of terror, it descends into sub-bass frequencies that vibrate the theater floor. Noé instructed Bangalter to make the audience feel "the heartbeat of the void." enter the void -2009-

Combine this with LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) pulses and the constant, distant wail of Tokyo sirens, and the film becomes a sensory deprivation tank turned inside out.

No film by Gaspar Noé arrives without scandal. Following his 2002 rape-revenge epic Irréversible, Enter the Void -2009- was considered a “softer” film. That is a relative term.

The central relationship between Oscar and Linda is deliberately uncomfortable. They talk to each other like lovers. They promise to “never leave each other.” In a flashback, they simulate sex as children (played by child actors in a deeply unsettling scene). By the finale, when Oscar’s ghost witnesses Linda giving birth, the implication is inescapable: Oscar has spiritually impregnated his sister. The film follows Oscar , a small-time American

Noé defends this by claiming the film is about the dissolution of ego. In the void, “man” and “woman” are irrelevant; they are two halves of a soul. Critics called it exploitative pseudophilosophy designed to shock bored festival-goers. Roger Ebert, a rare defender, wrote that the film “is not about plot, but about consciousness itself.”

The film also features:

For this reason, Enter the Void -2009- carries an NC-17 equivalent in most countries. It is not a film to watch with family. Often overlooked is the aural assault of the film

The film is famous for its strict adherence to the Point of View (POV) shot. For the first 20 minutes, the camera literally acts as the eyes of the protagonist, Oscar. We see him blink, smoke, and look around a Tokyo apartment.

The narrative structure is based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, specifically the concept of the Bardo—the intermediate state between death and rebirth.

If you are searching for Enter the Void -2009- and plan to watch it tonight, heed this warning: Do not watch it on a laptop in a bright room.

The Ideal Conditions:

Runtime Warning: The director’s cut runs 161 minutes. The first hour takes place before the shooting. It is slow, repetitive, and deliberately boring. This is a trap. Noé makes you bored so that when the death occurs, you are desperate for escape—which you do not get.