Babylon (Damien Chazelle, 2023)

The latest film from the director of Whiplash and La La Land seems to be riding off of the wave of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Mank.

Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt reunite to play the leading roles. Just recently Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze and Tobey Maguire joined the ensamble.

The movie is expected to go into a wide release on Jan. 6, 2023.

Hard pass.

BABYLON | Official Trailer (Uncensored) – Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva

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I'm definitely an admirer of Chazelle. I loved "La La Land" and also quite liked "Whiplash", and to a lesser extent "First Man". However, I genuinely don't think this looks good at all.

This looks interesting. I definitely want to check it out. I expect it to get some Oscar nominations.

Talk chalk and _____ in a trailer. That's a lot!

This sounds promising at least hopefully it delivers as chazelles stuff has been great so far

Reviews are comin' out. Some are loving it to death, and others are calling it really pretentious. Looks like we got ourselves another Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas situation.

I want to see this hopefully in the next few weeks.

There's a showing just 20 minutes after work tomorrow! And most people aren't reserving seats! And guess what... the theater is a five minute walk from work!

The only one of his I loved was Whiplash. Will wait for a few verified reviews here.

Somebody watch it soon, because I wanna see more discussion here!

Have you seen it?

Yep, saw it yesterday.

So we only have two confirmed watches. Are we the only true Chazelle fans on Movieforums?


The first thing that comes to mind is what your thoughts are about the exaggerated debauchery. I think the idea was to cement the first feelings of raw tension which help the plot move on and get more thrilling. I honestly lost a little bit of hair watching that movie. Or did that scene about MaGuire's special hell hole feel thrown in?

I wouldn't even call myself a Chazelle fan, though I definitely look forward to anything he makes.


My reaction to the debauchery was tempered because I had heard some of those things happened before seeing the movie, but it was somewhat frontloaded, so i do think it was supposed to knock you sideways before things really get going. I loved Margot Robbie's dance and accompanying tracking shot, as well as the high energy movie shoot that followed the opening title. In some ways I thought it became a bit less thrilling as it slowed down, because the movie was so long. I never lost interest, though. I was rooting for all three lead characters even though tragedy seemed inevitable.


The Maguire bits did feel thrown in to me. I had forgotten he was in it until he showed up. Certainly not my favorite part, but nothing felt out of bounds for this movie, so I can't really say it didn't belong there.

I think the length was filled by showing us a realistic look at all the stress of making a movie and the adjustment pertaining to sound. That one guy's spit was flying all over the place, and that's what made it work so beautifully. By the time he had his rant I was BEGGING for them to get that take right.

Yeah, I'm not saying it was too long (I survived Avatar: The Way of Water in variable frame-rate IMAX 3D after all), just that slowing the pace after being so raucous for so long was noticeable.


I was getting frustrated during that scene too, but the main thing I noticed is that I expected the camera guy to come out of that box dead at the end. I don't know whether to commend or condemn the movie for putting me in that headspace.

The other shift over the course of the movie for me was the genre. I expected a dramedy going in, but after the first hour it felt like a full-blown comedy to me. Obviously, it didn't stay that way.