The Scariest Movie of the Year: Whiplash

You can watch my youtube review HERE!!!

There are many forms of art in the world; creative, physical and even philosophical. True artists make their art form their life and that can take a massive toll on it. Whiplash takes this insane passion an artist has and presents it on a very visceral level and boy is it frightening. Damien Chazelle has crafted a brilliant directorial debut that manages to be ten times as thrilling as any of the blockbusters that have come out this year with less then a thirtieth of the budget.

The film follows Andrew Neyman (Teller), an aspiring drummer with social problems as he works under the tutelage of the frightening Jazz maestro Terence Fletcher at one of America's finest music schools. Whiplash won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year and has been showered with much critical praise ever since and rightly so. With two outstanding performances from it's leads Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, taught directing and fantastic writing from Damien Chazelle this is one of the best films of the year.

J.K. Simmons' Terence Fletcher is a unrelenting force of nature and a true horror unlike any other in this year of films (I'm yet to see Foxcatcher which might challenge this) and it's how hard he pushes and how far his drives Teller's Andrew Neyman that shake you to your core. This film affects you on a very visceral level which turns the drama into a thriller and then pushes it further into horror and the most horrifying aspect of it is that even though the narrative it is presenting is fiction what it is depicting is very much truth.

Art has driven many into madness and I know I myself would be willing to go to extremes for my own art. In this sense Whiplash is one of the most honest depictions of an artist's soul and it is both terrifying and absolutely wonderful. Capture with stylish cinematography that's a mixture of realism and expressionism and with wonderful music which is a requirement for any music movie. Finally anchored by two phenomenal and raw performances and directing that you would find from the confidence of a master expect this time it's from a young filmmaker who is very much a talent to keep an eye on.

5 out of 5 stars.

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