6 OF THE BEST
PICK OF THE MONTH
Team Empire on the month’s essential movies and TV
VORTEX
OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 142 MINS
Vortex’s split-screen aside, notorious writer-director Gaspar Noé ditched the bells and whistles (and the sex and violence) for this devastating portrayal of an old Parisian couple succumbing to illness. Sounds like a good time, right? Clearly it isn’t — it’s unprecedentedly bleak. But it’s also so raw, so honest: an unflinching, unsanitised heartbreak. And in that respect, it’s just as extreme as Noé’s former work. The split-screen works wonders, providing two different perspectives but also dissonance, as these two terrific actors (Dario Argento and Françoise Lebrun) potter about their apartment, going through, as things develop, hell. So yes, it’s the downer of all downers, but if you’re up for that, it’ll fill your heart — and soul.