Shapes dancing in the dark: a look at Dada

Is it worth the watch?

Honestly, you probably already know if you’re the type of person who sits through this. If you love staring at abstract art in a gallery for forty-five minutes, you’ll dig it. If you need a narrative or at least a character to root for, you’re going to hate this and wonder why you didn't just watch Going Hollywood instead.

It’s barely a movie, really. It’s more like a screensaver from the 1930s that grew a soul.

The whole thing is just lines, circles, and those jittery little squares popping up against a black void. It moves to this weird, upbeat rhythm that reminds me of a The Great Ziegfeld musical number, but without the dancers or the sequins. Just pure math having a nervous breakdown.

I found myself getting weirdly hypnotized by the triangles. They show up in little groups, all orderly and stiff, then everything just goes wild with these kaleidoscopic spins. It’s messy, but it works.

There’s a bit where the cubes start bouncing. I don't know why, but I kept waiting for them to hit something, but they never do. They just float in that infinite blackness.

The ying-yang moment

Towards the end, there’s this ying-yang symbol that just rotates. It’s almost funny how serious the movie treats it. It’s like, 'Okay, we’ve done the shapes, now let's get deep.' It lasts for maybe five seconds before the screen just blows up into a burst of light.

It’s short. Like, really short. It doesn't overstay its welcome. It’s not trying to change your life or win an award for best screenplay. It’s just shapes doing things.

Sometimes you just need to watch a circle spin for a while to forget that the rest of the world is a mess. 🌀

• The black and white contrast is super sharp.
• The music makes it feel more frantic than it actually is.
• The ending is basically a visual sneeze.

It’s not as chaotic as Hot Air, but it’s got a weird energy. You watch it, you feel a little bit dizzy, you move on. That’s enough, right?