A young jazz drummer joins the class of a teacher whose methods are brutal.

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At a prestigious music school in New York, Andrew wants only one thing: to become one of the best jazz drummers of his generation. One night, as he’s rehearsing alone in a room at the conservatory, he is surprised by Terence Fletcher, one of the best teachers of the school, known for his extreme methods. At first thrilled to join his class, Andrew soon discovers his new instructor has an intense personality and is prepared to do anything to push his students to excel...

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, and now Whiplash: winners of the Grand Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, shown at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. Damien Chazelle’s debut has more than proved its worthiness as a nugget of independent American cinema. With breathless vitality, brutality and violence, Whiplash offers an outstanding face-off between Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. Supported by a rousing period soundtrack, the film ends on a note of staggering darkness, which makes you forget the obvious dramatic tricks used by this impressive debut movie.