Gaspar Noé's "Lux Aeterna"
“Come for the witches — stay for the screaming”
I'm trying to imagine how I would have voted if this film had somehow been submitted back when I was volunteering for the Alexandria Film Festival.
I would have liked it, but I wouldn't have considered it a big crowd-pleaser. When you're helping run a film festival devoted to independent cinema, you often see-saw between the poles of "please the audience" and "please the artist." Sometimes you hit the target, sometimes you don't. Often you don’t—but you can usually tell during the post-screening Q&A sessions with filmmakers that the film has reached someone.
I remember when my wife and I were reviewing films for consideration, we were often horrified—or just depressed—by the raw, negative emotions some (usually younger) filmmakers chose to put on screen. Other times, we were amazed by the imagination and creativity on display. Eventually, I realized two things: (a) I’m terrible at predicting how audiences will react, and (b) every film has its audience—if you can just reach the right people in time to get them into the theater.
Lux Æterna is, I think, a good example of this ambivalence. I was curious to see it after hearing some murmurs about the director’s reputation. I wasn't disappointed, especially given the extensive warnings at the beginning advising "photosensitive viewers" about the film’s intentionally seizure-inducing strobe effects.
Another factor that prompted me to watch was that I had just seen Saturday Night, a deliriously frenzied neo-documentary about the events leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live. That’s one of those films where you keep asking, “What else can possibly go wrong?” while watching Lorne Michaels’ tribulations unfold.
The blurb I read about Lux Æterna suggested a similar “making-of” focus. Instead, it turned out to be about the production of a film portraying witches being burned at the stake. Great topic!
What we eventually see on screen is a full-blown nightmare. The film builds around the chaos of shooting a climactic scene where three young, scantily clad witches are burned at the stake before a frenzied crowd. Everything that can go wrong, does—culminating in a final sequence that bombards the viewer with light, sound, screaming, hysteria, arguments, sobbing, and desperation. It’s a textbook case of “chaos on the set.”
Yes, I was amused—but I’m not sure I ever want to see this one again. Maybe others will be entertained. Just don’t expect a real crowd-pleaser!
Review copyright (c) 2025 by Dennis D. McDonald
