A Psychological Horror Story

Rating: 7/10 (16 February 2019)

In New York, a young jazz drummer (Miles Teller) is enrolled in a prestigious music school. His ambitions are tested and manipulated by a sadistic, perfectionist music instructor (J.K. Simmons).
There are occasional moments in the film that seem far-fetched and over-the-top. But these are forgiven due to the edgy execution by director-writer Damien Chazelle and the acting.
Teller is very believable as someone whose obsession to succeed overrides his sense of safety. This is partly explained in a useful scene at the beginning of an extended family gathering where one-upmanship seemed to be the traditional form of communicating.
However, the movie belongs to Simmons who is the epitome of the authority-from-hell. He has rightly won many awards for this performance and he is likely to win more. He is so frightening when he is dominating the students that, even in the audience, there is a sigh of relief felt when he is acting more at-ease and human. His presence is that strong.
"Whiplash" ably presents the question of whether attaining genius is worth the price - at least in certain circumstances. It also succeeds as a psychological horror movie. The Simmons character is likely to be mentioned in the future as one of the movies' most memorable villains.