Whiplash

Whiplash (2014) — watch online on iFILM this tightly wound music thriller from director Damien Chazelle. Miles Teller plays Andrew, a first-year drumming student at a New York conservatory who will bleed before he quits. J.K. Simmons won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as Fletcher, the conductor who treats cruelty as a teaching method.

Every rehearsal is a war. Fletcher throws chairs, screams, and tears students apart in front of the ensemble. Andrew practices until his hands wrap in bandages, drops his girlfriend, and cuts off everyone who might slow him down. The line between drive and self-destruction blurs with every bar of music.

Produced for just $3.3 million by Blumhouse Productions, the film took three Academy Awards — Supporting Actor, Film Editing, and Sound Mixing — and launched Chazelle as one of the sharpest filmmakers working today. Stream Whiplash (2014) online on iFILM.