The film was produced byBold Films,Blumhouse Productions, and Right of Way Films.Sony Pictures acquired distribution rights for most of the world, releasing the film underSony Pictures Classics in North America, Germany, and Australia, andStage 6 Films in the UK, Scandinavia, Benelux, Eastern Europe (excluding theCIS), Greece, South Africa, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Latin America.[3][4]
Chazelle completed the script in 2013, drawing upon his experiences in a "very competitive" jazz band in high school. Soon after, Right of Way and Blumhouse helped Chazelle turn fifteen pages of the screenplay into an18-minute short film. The short film received acclaim after debuting at the2013 Sundance Film Festival, which attracted investors to produce the complete version of the script. Filming took place in September 2013 throughoutLos Angeles over twenty days. The film explores concepts of perfectionism, dedication, and success, and deconstructs the concept of ambition.
Jazz drummer Andrew Neiman attends the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory in New York City, hoping to leave a legacy like that of his idolBuddy Rich. Terrence Fletcher, the conductor of the most prestigious ensemble in Shaffer, overhears Andrew practicing and prompts him to playrudiments and a double-time swing beat. Unimpressed by Andrew's performance, Fletcher leaves. Fletcher later recruits Andrew to perform in his ensemble as a backup for core drummer Carl Tanner.
Though Fletcher is encouraging at first, Andrew soon discovers that he is relentlessly strict and abuses his students both verbally and physically. When Andrew fails to keeptempo onHank Levy's "Whiplash" during his first ensemble rehearsal, Fletcher throws a chair at him, repeatedly slaps his face, and berates him. Determined to impress Fletcher, Andrew excessively practices, often until his hands blister and bleed. In the meantime, he becomes romantically involved with a woman named Nicole.
After their first set at a jazz competition, Andrew misplaces Tanner's sheet music. Tanner cannot play without the sheets, but Andrew claims he can. Fletcher allows Andrew to perform "Whiplash" from memory, resulting in Shaffer winning the competition. Fletcher promotes Andrew to core drummer, but later abruptly reassigns the position to Ryan Connolly, a drummer from a lower-level ensemble within Shaffer.
Because of his single-mindedness toward music, Andrew clashes with his family and breaks up with Nicole to focus on his ambitions. One day, Fletcher begins rehearsal by announcing that Sean Casey, a former member of the Studio Band, has died in a car accident. He then pushes the three drummers to play at a faster tempo on "Caravan", keeping them for a grueling five-hour practice. Being the only one able to perform on-tempo, Andrew earns the core position back.
On the way to the next competition, Andrew's bus gets a flat tire. He rents a car, but arrives late and forgets his drumsticks at the rental office. Andrew races back and retrieves them, but his car is hit by a truck on the way back. Heavily injured, Andrew crawls from the wreckage and runs to the theater, arriving bloodied and weak just as the ensemble enters the stage. He struggles to keep tempo and Fletcher halts the performance to dismiss him from the band. Enraged, Andrew attacks Fletcher onstage and is subsequently expelled from Shaffer.
At the request of his father, Andrew meets a lawyer representing Sean's parents. They explain that Sean had actuallyhanged himself after suffering from depression and anxiety inflicted by Fletcher's abuse, for which his parents want Fletcher held accountable. Andrew reluctantly agrees to anonymously testify against him, leading Shaffer to terminate Fletcher.
Andrew abandons drumming. Months later, he encounters Fletcher playing piano at ajazz club. The two have drinks together, during which Fletcher admits his teaching methods were harsh but insists they were necessary to motivate his students. He cites a story whereJo Jones allegedly threw acymbal atCharlie Parker, claiming that the next jazz musician to live up to Parker's legacy would never let themselves be discouraged. Fletcher invites Andrew to perform with his professional band at a New YorkJVC Jazz Festival, playing the same pieces from the Shaffer Studio Band; Andrew accepts. Andrew calls Nicole to invite her to the performance, but learns she has a new boyfriend.
At the festival, Fletcher tells Andrew he knows Andrew testified against him. Fletcher vengefully leads the band into a new song that Andrew does not know and does not have sheet music for. After a disastrous performance, a humiliated Andrew walks offstage. After his father embraces him, Andrew decides to return to the stage, reclaiming the drum kit and cutting off Fletcher's introduction to the next song by cueing the band into "Caravan". Initially angered, Fletcher resumes conducting. As the piece finishes, Andrew continues into an unexpected improvisedsolo. Impressed, Fletcher nods in approval before cueing the final chord.
While attendingPrinceton High School, writer-directorDamien Chazelle was in a "very competitive" studio band and drew on the dread he felt in those years.[12] He based the conductor, Terence Fletcher, on his former band instructor (who died in 2003) but "pushed it further", adding elements ofBuddy Rich and other band leaders known for their harsh treatment.[12] Chazelle wrote the film "initially in frustration" while trying to get his musicalLa La Land off the ground.[13]
Right of Way Films and Blumhouse Productions helped Chazelle turn fifteen pages of his original screenplay into ashort film starringJohnny Simmons as Neiman and J. K. Simmons (no relation)[14] as Fletcher.[15] The eighteen-minute short film received acclaim after debuting at the2013 Sundance Film Festival, winning the short film Jury Award for fiction,[16][17] which attracted investors to produce the complete version of the script.[18] The feature-length film was financed for $3.3 million by Bold Films.[3]
In August 2013,Miles Teller signed on to star in the role originated by Johnny Simmons; J. K. Simmons remained attached to his original role.[19] Early on, Chazelle gave J. K. Simmons direction that "I want you to take it past what you think the normal limit would be," telling him: "I don't want to see a human being on-screen any more. I want to see a monster, a gargoyle, an animal." Many of the band members were real musicians or music students, and Chazelle tried to capture their expressions of fear and anxiety when Simmons pressed them. Chazelle said that, between takes, Simmons was "as sweet as can be", which he credits for keeping "the shoot from being nightmarish".[12]
Principal photography began in September 2013, with filming taking place throughout Los Angeles, including the Hotel Barclay,Palace Theater, and theOrpheum Theatre.[20][21] The film was shot in nineteen days, with a schedule of fourteen hours of filming per day.[22] Chazelle was involved in a serious car accident in the third week of filming and was hospitalized with possible concussion, but he returned to set the following day to wrap the shoot on time.[22]
Having taught himself to play drums at age fifteen, Teller performed much of the drumming seen in the film. Supporting actor and jazz drummer Nate Lang, who plays Neiman's rival Carl in the film, trained Teller in the specifics of jazz drumming; this included changing his grip frommatched to traditional.[23][24] For certain scenes, professional drummerKyle Crane served as Teller's drum double.[25][26]
The soundtrack album was released on October 7, 2014, via theVarèse Sarabande label.[27] The soundtrack consists of 24 tracks divided in three different parts: original jazz pieces written for the film, original underscore parts written for the film, and classic jazz standards written byStan Getz,Duke Ellington, and other musicians. The actual drummer wasBernie Dresel.[28]
On March 27, 2020, an expanded deluxe edition was released on double CD and 2-LP gatefold sleeve vinyl with new cover art, and featured original music by Justin Hurwitz, plus bonus track and remixes by Timo Garcia, Opiuo,Murray A. Lightburn, and more.[29]
In North America, the film opened in alimited release on October 10, 2014, in six theaters, grossing $135,388 ($22,565 per theater) and finishing 34th at the box office.[2] It expanded to 88 locations, then 419 locations.[30] After three months on release, it had earned $7 million, and finally expanded nationwide to 1000 locations to capitalize on receiving five Academy Awards nominations.[31] As of October 3, 2024,Whiplash grossed $14 million in the U.S. and Canada and $36.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $50.4 million against a budget of $3.3 million.[2]
On the review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film scored 94% based on 304 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Intense, inspiring, and well-acted,Whiplash is a brilliant sophomore effort from director Damien Chazelle and a riveting vehicle for stars J. K. Simmons and Miles Teller."[32] OnMetacritic the film has a score of 89 out of 100, based on reviews from 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[33] Simmons received wide praise for his performance and won the2015Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[34][35]
Peter Debruge, in his review forVariety, said that the film "demolishes the cliches of the musical-prodigy genre, investing the traditionally polite stages and rehearsal studios of a topnotch conservatory with all the psychological intensity of a battlefield or sports arena."[36]Todd McCarthy ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of Teller and Simmons, writing: "Teller, who greatly impressed in last year's Sundance entryThe Spectacular Now, does so again in a performance that is more often simmering than volatile ... Simmons has the great good fortune for a character actor to have here found a co-lead part he can really run with, which is what he excitingly does with a man who is profane, way out of bounds and, like many a good villain, utterly compelling."[37]Whiplash also won the 87thAcademy Award for Best Sound Mixing and the 87thAcademy Award for Best Film Editing.[38]
Amber Wilkinson ofThe Daily Telegraph praised the direction and editing, writing: "Chazelle's film has a sharp and gripping rhythm, with shots beautifully edited byTom Cross... often cutting to the crash of Andrew's drums."[39] James Rocchi ofIndiewire gave a positive review and said, "Whiplash is ... full of bravado and swagger, uncompromising where it needs to be, informed by great performances and patient with both its characters and the things that matter to them."[40] Henry Barnes ofThe Guardian gave the film a positive review, calling it a rare film "about music that professes its love for the music and its characters equally."[38]
Forrest Wickman ofSlate said the film distorted jazz history and promoted a misleading idea of genius, adding, "In all likelihood, Fletcher isn't making a Charlie Parker. He's making the kind of musician that would throw a cymbal at him."[41] InThe New Yorker,Richard Brody said, "Whiplash honors neither jazz nor cinema."[42]
The film appeared on many critics' end-of-year lists. Metacritic collected lists published by major film critics and publications and in their analysis, recorded thatWhiplash appeared on 57 lists and in 1st place on 5 of those lists. Overall the film was ranked in 5th place for the year byMetacritic.[43]
The film received the top audience and grand jury awards in the U.S. dramatic competition at the2014 Sundance Film Festival;[47] Chazelle's short film of the same name took home the jury award in the U.S. fiction categoryone year prior.[16] The film also took the grand prize and the audience award for its favorite film at the40th Deauville American Film Festival.[48]
Whiplash was originally planned to compete for theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay, but on January 6, 2015, theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced that the film would instead be competing in theAdapted Screenplay category[49] to the surprise of many including Chazelle,[50] due to the short film premiering at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival (one year before the feature film's release), even though the feature film's script was written first and the short was made to attract investors into producing the feature-length film.[15] Although theWriters Guild of America categorized the screenplay as original, AMPAS classed it as an adaptation of the 2013 short version.[50]
In 2020, it ranked 13 onEmpire's list of "The 100 Greatest Movies Of The 21st Century" and number 51 on its 2024 list.[52][53] In 2024, it topped the list of the Sundance Film Festival's Top 10 Films of All Time as the result of a survey conducted with 500 filmmakers and critics in honor of the festival's 40th anniversary.[54][55]
To celebrate the film's 10th anniversary, a new4K remaster of the film was released theatrically on September 20, 2024, following a special anniversary screening at the2024 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9.[58]
In June 2025,Tom Bernard, co-President of Sony Pictures Classics, citedWhiplash as among the best films to come from the studio in the 21st century. It also ranked number 60 onThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 19 on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[57][59][60]
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