In the early 2000s, BMW launched a new series of short, narrative films meant to showcase their car models through the work of celebrated filmmakers. The first wave of shorts included directors Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, and Alejandro González Iñárritu, and BMW has periodically resurrected the series, including bringing back Clive Owen to reprise his BMW Films character in 2016 for a film directed by Neill Blomkamp. Now BMW Films is back (again) with “The Calm,” an eight-minute movie that stars Pom Klementieff of “Guardians of the Galaxy” fame.
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In “The Calm,” Klementieff stars as an unknown agent on her way to a rendezvous with mysterious forces. The bulk of the short film is a fistfight inside the vehicle; Klementieff wrestles with Nathaniel Perry, a longtime stunt performer best known for his work as Idris Elba’s stunt double in “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” and James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.” When Klementieff’s character emerges as the last (wo)man standing, she meets Uma Thurman’s agent to plan a surprise mission to the Cannes Film Festival itself.
In keeping with the BMW Films tradition, the car manufacturer has spared no expense for its latest commercial. “The Calm” was directed by Sam Hargrave of “Extraction” fame and features an original soundtrack from Hans Zimmer. The short was also executive produced by Joseph Kosinski, who finished breaking box office records with his own work as a director in “Top Gun: Maverick.” That’s a lot of topline star power for a car commercial and speaks to BMW’s ongoing efforts to blur the line between consumerism and cinema.
So is “The Calm” art or commerce? Eh, perhaps a little bit of both. There’s certainly no harm in watching filmmakers earn a paycheck without taking themselves off the market for years, and it’s great to see Hargrave open doors for fellow stunt performers. If you were a fan of the other films in the BMW series, you might be curious to see where “The Calm” goes. If nothing else, seeing BMW take the medium seriously when selling cars is always fun. I’d rather have filmmakers direct a car commercial than have producers backdoor a car commercial into my films.
