'Vortex' First Look Clip: Gaspar Noé's Latest Reveals A Tiny Taste Of What Dario Argento Is Doing In His Film

French cinema’s favorite enfant terrible is back at the Cannes Film Festival. Gaspar Noé returns to the French Riviera with his latest film, “Vortex,” to premiere out of competition this week in the Cannes Premiere section. It’s the seventh of Noé’s films to premiere at Cannes, his last being the 2019 medium-length film “Lux Æterna” starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Béatrice Dalle. And, well, “Vortex,” it’s something of a big mystery.

Details are slim to none on Noé’s latest. According to The Film Stage, the director shot the film on a brisk twenty-day shoot in mid-March to April this year and rushed to have it ready for Cannes. Variety describes “Vortex” as “a documentary-style film revolving around the last days of an elderly couple.” The official synopsis from Cannes is even more cryptic: “Life is a short party that will soon be forgotten.” If anything, this sounds like Noé’s take on Michael Haneke‘s “Amour,” which won the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes festival. So, par usual, a Noé film that’s not for the faint of heart.

More enticing is the cast in the “Vortex,” led by Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. Argento’s films have taken a steep critical decline since the mid-1990s, and his acting credits are scarce, but his presence should raise festival goers’ eyebrows. A synopsis references “Vortex” as “the meeting of [Jean] Eustache and a giallo,” the latter being the Italian horror-crime genre Argento made wildly popular in the ’70s with films like “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” and “Deep Red.” Françoise Lebrun, best known for her role in Eustache’s 1973 film “The Mother And The Whore,” and French comedic actor Alex Lutz also star in “Vortex.”

Noé has had success at Cannes before. His 2018 film “Climax” won the Art Cinema award at the festival that year after screening in the Director’s Fortnight section. “Lux Æterna” and 2015’s “Love” failed to make waves with critics at their Cannes premieres, but perhaps “Vortex” will get the generally positive reception “Climax” did.

“Vortex” has its world premiere at Cannes this week, so tune in to The Playlist’s coverage of the festival for how critics take to it. Knowing Noé, it’s bound to be a visceral ride, for good and ill. Check out the film’s first clip, which shows Argento as part of that elderly couple having a little surreal chat and afternoon aperitif.