BFI LFF 2018: VOX LUX - Dir. Brady Corbet

Spoiler Warning: Lots of spoilers ahead

Knowing very little about a film before watching it opens up the possibility of giving over time to a film that thoroughly squanders it, but also the possibility of being swept up in a film with no expectations or suggestion of where it will take you. In the case of Vox Lux, knowing little more than the title and cast members led to being wholly unprepared for the film’s startling opening. That intense reaction is indicative of the entire experience crafted by writer and director Brady Corner. This is a film of extremes. Extreme pain and extreme joy; extreme highs and extreme lows. All presented to question and challenge the acceptable boundaries of 21st century celebrity culture.

Vox Lux opens with a school shooting in 1999; Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives but with spinal injuries. After singing at a candlight vigil soon after, Celeste launches on a path to popstardom with her sister Eleanor (Stacy Martin) and produced (Jude Law) in tow.





Channeling tragedy into art as personal catharsis is nothing particularly unheard of but the extreme swerve from pain and hurt through to happiness that Celeste experiences allows writer and director Brady Corbet to question the lengths people go to for their art across their careers. In the beginning, Celeste is enjoying a life so many dream of as she gets to work on her first tracks. More importantly, Celeste has her sister beside to savour the sights and sounds of the wider world. But underneath the precocious confidence and the joy at the success that comes her way is a child hiding a extraordinary trauma, a girl who puts on her headphones to drown out the television news whilst in the gym. Raffey Cassidy (so excellent in both Tomorrowland and The Killing of a Sacred Deer) brilliantly captures Celeste's ambition and frailty as the teenager launched into the adult world; Natalie Portman (more on her in a minute) may well receive most of the awards attention, but Cassidy portrays all of the ingredients of Celeste’s grief and anxiety that will fester within her over her over the years to come.



Corbet foregoes the rise to stardom of the conventional biopic and jumps ahead 16 years, to show Celeste (Natalie Portman) as the grotesque diva she has evolved into, further exemplifying his intention to emphasise the contrast between the two extremes of the younger and older Celeste. 2017 Celeste is rude and curt to even her closest companions, including her teenage daughter Albertine (also Raffey Cassidy).

Through her interactions with her daughter, sister and manager in the hours prior to a concert, some of the events in the intervening 16 years of Celeste's are revealed. Her transgressions were enough to land her, or indeed anyone, in prison. And yet throughout all of Portman's extra-extravagant grandstanding and scathing insincerity are the echoes of the school girl and her unresolved trauma. During an ill-advised roundtable interview, Celeste responds to questions on her transgressions by reminding the journalist (Christopher Abbott) of the severity of her spinal injuries. It feels like a reflex action; self-justification that’s become a justification for others too.



The lives of musicians and actors are filled with scandals and misdemeanours that can derail careers and then provide the fuel for redemption and the comeback. What should be laid to rest so that adoration can be restored: an unacceptable slur, a spell in prison, kicking a professional photographer? Does any of that even matter to the people buying the music or attending the concerts?

There are styles and mannerisms of numerous popstars in Celeste and this patchwork amalgamation of influences helps to avoid any direct comparisons to real life personas; Celeste’s songs too, at least in the truncated form seen here, are suitably non-specific too. Despite her considerable failings, Celeste is an exemplary performer and the film ends with scenes from the first convert of her latest tour in front of her hometown fans.

She sings, she dances, she captivates the crowd and she keeps going. She endures for her fans. She performs for them. Throughout the film, Celeste’s story is recounted as a legend or a myth, told with omnipotent authority by Willem Dafoe. Near story’s end, he speak of deals with devil. Celeste brings joy to others but her personal life and health are a mess. Is it worth it? Does she fear what her life would be without it? Again, does any of this matter to the fans gathered in front of the stage?



As the concert progresses, fans continue to sing and dance along with Celeste. Perhaps they’ve reasoned that they can accept what Celeste has done or that their personal connection to her music supersedes any wrongdoing. Albertine and Eleanor too make their way into the crowd and, despite the barrage of ill contented abuse hurled in their direction in the preceding hours, seemingly can’t help but get caught up in the moment. As the smiles broaden across their faces, it would appear that, for now at least, all has been forgiven.






VOX LUX screened at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival and is currently without a UK release date.

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