VENDREDI SOIR (Claire Denis, 2002)
If there’s an argument to be made that the “S” in ASMR stands for “sexual”, then let’s listen longingly to Claire Denis’ erotic, almost wordless French drama. Stuck in traffic one evening, Laure impulsively sleeps with a stranger in a hotel. That’s the film – and it’s ace. Once the lush, swelling soundtrack dies down, Denis isolates what sexual craving sounds like: when Laure is keenly aware she’s brushing against the arm of an attractive man on a staircase, the semi-accidental contact is amplified in the aural textures. Caught up in the romance, Laure’s senses then pay extra attention to her surroundings: the swooshing of running taps, the gentle clacking of a heater switching itself on. Here, desire equates to an ASMR playground.
