Entropic (2019): When Beauty Becomes a Cage
When you’re called “the most beautiful man in the world,” there’s nowhere to hide. Entropic turns that curse into a haunting piece of art about control, exposure, and the need to vanish.
Entropic (2019) is one of those films that doesn’t want to be understood – it wants to be felt. It stares back at you the same way you stare at it, waiting to see who blinks first. Written and directed by Robert W. Gray, this Canadian indie mixes performance art, existential dread, and queer undertones into something that feels both intimate and painfully detached.
The Story
Aaron, played by Khalid Karim, is a man exhausted by beauty. Everyone sees him as perfect – and that’s exactly the problem. So, he creates an art experiment: he invites people to come and look at him, naked and silent, like a living sculpture. At first, it feels like a statement about vulnerability. But as the visitors arrive – curious, cruel, or turned on – the whole thing becomes darker. The project spirals out of control, and what started as “art” turns into a quiet breakdown, both physical and emotional.
The Characters
Aaron isn’t just a narcissist; he’s a man trying to erase himself from other people’s desire. Cam, his partner, stands by, torn between love and disbelief. Luke – the straight, gym-perfect guy – becomes a mirror for Aaron’s repressed anger. And then there’s the woman in black, who calmly tells him that she enjoys watching him. Every character represents a different kind of gaze: the lover, the voyeur, the judge, the reflection.
What the Film Is Really About
This isn’t a story about sex or fame. It’s about the power of being seen. Aaron’s body becomes a battlefield between who he is and who the world wants him to be. The film asks: if everyone projects their fantasies onto you, do you still exist? It’s a chilling, poetic look at how easily self-awareness turns into self-destruction.
“You’re beautiful because I say you’re beautiful.”
That one line sums up the entire film – the violence of validation, the trap of admiration. It’s about how our need to be seen becomes the very thing that kills us.
Visuals and Tone
The cinematography is clean, almost sterile. White rooms, cold light, long silences. Everything feels like a gallery piece – deliberate, distant, clinical. Yet beneath that surface, there’s an ache – a slow burn of shame and desire. Gray films his characters like specimens, and that’s exactly the point. We’re watching them watching each other, and in that endless loop of gazes, something human quietly disappears.
Verdict
Entropic isn’t an easy film to like. It’s more of an experience you survive and then keep thinking about for days. It touches that uncomfortable space between love and obsession, body and identity, ego and self-annihilation. For some, it will feel pretentious; for others, it’s brave and painfully honest. Either way, it stares right back at you – and refuses to look away first.
“I wanted to end the experiment. I wanted to end myself.”
IMDb: Entropic (2019)
