Clubbed To Death review

Yolande Zauberman directs a vivid portrait of the suburban Paris club scene, as seen through the eyes of 20-year-old Lola (Elodie Bouchez), bombarding his audience with 90 bangy, strobe-lit minutes of feisty relationships, endless coke-snorting and sweaty, dancing bodies. On the surface, this may sound like a sexy, sit-down rave, but Zauberman’s jittery, hand-held camera style gives the film a glam-free gritty realism that’s tedious, unattractive and predictable. On the plus side, the dialogue is refreshingly natural, and it’s an interesting glimpse into Parisian clubland. But Béatrice Dalle’s utterly dire, vampish performance as a lead dancer only contributes to the nagging feeling that what you’re watching is grade-A pretentious tosh trying desperately to be something more meaningful. So unless you’ve got a passion for techno (and can sit through it without twitching too many of your upper-body muscles), Clubbed To Death is best avoided.