Enter the Void



Enter the Void is Gaspar Noe's 2009 film. Described by Noe as a "psychedelic melodrama," the film opens with Oscar living in Tokyo, supporting himself by dealing drugs, against the advice of his sister Linda and friend Alex. Alex attempts to turn Oscar toward spirituality with The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as opposed to drug abuse, which Alex claims will "fry (his) brain". The first act follows Oscar's nightly routine through strict point-of-view shots, including momentary blackouts to represent blinking, and extended sequences of drug-induced hallucination.

Oscar and Alex leave the apartment to deliver drugs to Oscar's friend Victor. On the way, Alex explains parts of The Tibetan Book of the Dead aloud to Oscar: how the spirit of a dead person sometimes will stay among the living until it begins to experience nightmares, after which it will attempt to reincarnate. Then Oscar arrives at the bar The Void, and just as he sits down with Victor, the police come to swarm the place. Oscar is chased down into the washroom stalls, where he desperately tries to flush away his incriminating drugs.

He gets shot.

We view it all from his viewpoint, as his spirit rises from his body and watches over the events which follow.

Enter the Void contains examples of the following tropes:

 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence
 * Big Bad Friend
 * Blipvert: The opening credits.
 * Blood Oath
 * Crapsack World: As expected from Gasper Noe.
 * Deranged Animation
 * Depth of Field / Fish Eye Lens
 * Doing It for the Art
 * Drone of Dread
 * Dying Dream
 * Epileptic Flashing Lights
 * Everybody Has Lots of Sex
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fetal Position Rebirth
 * Flash Back
 * Gainax Ending
 * Genre Savvy: A tripping Oscar advises himself to avoid balconies and railings.
 * Homage: The psychedelic colours and extreme experience of it all reflects upon Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
 * It Got Worse
 * Mind Screw
 * Mind Rape
 * Mood Motif
 * Mushroom Samba
 * Nothing Is Scarier
 * Pay Evil Unto Evil
 * POV Cam: Used extensively in the first 25 minutes or so of the film. But after
 * Retirony
 * Rule of Symbolism: The events which Oscar perceives after being shot is loosely based upon his reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
 * Sensory Abuse
 * Stream of Consciousness
 * They Should Have Sent a Poet
 * Tragic Mistake
 * Trippy Finale Syndrome
 * Vader Breath
 * Your Cheating Heart
 * Your Cheating Heart