Babylon
2022 · Directed by Damien Chazelle
Original language: English
- drama
- comedy
The story
A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, tracing the rise and fall of multiple characters in an era of unbridled decadence and depravity during Hollywood's transition from silent films to sound films in the late 1920s.
What it’s like
Frenetic, sweat-soaked and overexposed: sprawling handheld tracking shots that churn through crowded Los Angeles parties, sudden cuts from sunlit desert sets to sepia-dark backlots, and a palette that swings between champagne gold, smoky amber and the flickering white of a projector beam. Chazelle's camera never sits still for long, so the film feels like being pulled through a hangover at high speed, with a jazz-and-swing score that surges and then drops to a sour hush. The sound design is part of the design: the moment talkies arrive is staged as a jolt of raw noise and silence. The vibe is decadent, chaotic and bittersweet, a showbiz fever dream with a melancholy undertow, best suited to a late night when you're up for something loud and sprawling rather than a quiet evening. Pacing is relentless in the first hour and more reflective later, and its characters are ambitious people burning themselves out and gradually losing their footing. The intensity is high: explicit sexual content and orgy scenes, heavy drug and alcohol use, drunken cruelty, brief but graphic violence, and a crude, profane comedy, plus a notorious animal-death moment that lands hard. It suits viewers who want big-canvas filmmaking and don't mind excess that turns grim.
More films like Babylon
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Babylonand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
