Whiplash, released in 2014 tells the story of Andrew - a drum student at the prestigious Shaffer and is taken under the wing of his all too menacing teacher, Terence Fletcher. I found myself really intrigued by the film. I enjoyed the premise of it, as well as the consistent build to Andrew and Fletcher's showdown. At times it made me uncomfortable, such as when Andrew was pulling himself out of the car wreck to get to his competition. As a result, I found myself really emotionally invested in his story and his ability to prevail. Having seen Chazelle's other film La La Land prior to this one, they seem to have a similar hopelessness to each other. I enjoy that each film ends not in the way that you would expect, but in the way that is appropriate for the story. At first, when Fletcher asked Andrew to come play for him, I was shocked at how kind he was and how out of character it felt. I appreciated that he came back at Andrew later with a vengeance in the final performance of the film. JK Simmons performance as Fletcher was truly so incredible and believable. As the character, his presence was so powerful and he possessed so much control of his environment. This was especially evident in the scene where Andrew and the other two drummers in Studio Band had to compete against each other to get the seat. He has this maniacal fervor that just escalates as the scene goes on, and it's so incredible to watch and experience. Overall, through Simmons' performance and the riveting story told, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It's definitely one that I would go back to watch again just to see if I could catch more details in Simmons' riveting performance!