SYNCOPE
2023 · 21m · Switzerland
Directed by Linus von Stumberg
Genres: drama, musical, thriller
An eager young dancer named Whim is cast in a new dance piece called SYNCOPE, only to discover the coldly commanding choreographer has injected the dancers with poison and outfitted them with shock collars, turning the performance into a life-threatening spectacle where they must literally dance for their lives.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Dancers in shock collars choreographed to actually die on stage — Whiplash for the contemporary dance world, fine, but the director-also-villain casting reads as ego project. Could really go either way.
Von Stumberg's decade of professional dance experience grounds a Suspiria-Whiplash-Climax hybrid that risks the obvious comparisons but earns the formal authority. 21 minutes is ambitious for the conceit.
21 minutes is a long sit for a dance-as-thriller premise, but von Stumberg drawing on his own decade of dance experience AND playing the antagonist himself gives the body-as-instrument idea genuine authority. 48K views on SOTW signals it cleared.
Reviews
Blood, sweat and tears are all felt through the contagious rhythm of the film, with the tense narrative holding your breath hostage as the stakes go from life-changing to life-threatening.
A shock-collar dance against death — the editing perfectly plays with the score to foster both a sense of threat and the simultaneous adrenaline from executing the performance perfectly.
Festivals
- Max Ophüls Preis 2024, Jury Prize and Audience Prize
- Busan International Short Film Festival 2024
- Brussels Short Film Festival 2024, Mention Spéciale du jury
- Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival 2024, Best Genre Film Award
- International Short Film Festival In the Palace 2024, Best Student Fiction Film
- Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024, Best Thriller Award
- Sapporo International Short Film Festival and Market 2023, Best Screenplay
- Tokyo Short Film Festival