Babylon

Damien Chazelle's Hollywood extravaganza borrows heavily from the 1952 Gene Kelly musical — just with way more sex, drugs, and elephant poop.

[Diego Calva](https://ew.com/movies/babylon-first-look-brad-pitt-margot-robbie-golden-age-hollywood/https:/ew.com/movies/babylon-first-look-brad-pitt-margot-robbie-golden-age-hollywood/)) directs Nellie in a scene from a French period piece. That's right: The film ends with a flash-forward to the 1950s, as Calva's Manny wanders into a surprise showing of Singin' in the Rain. [Brad Pitt](https://ew.com/person/brad-pitt/) is the film's Don Lockwood. Luckily for you, Chazelle wants to make sure there's no doubt in your mind when you leave the theater — so Babylon ends with a literal supercut of footage from Singin' in the Rain. Others are designed to be more obvious — to the point where Babylon literally ends with a flash-forward to the 1950s, as a character pops into a theater to watch (you guessed it) Singin' in the Rain on the big screen. Both Babylon and Singin' in the Rain kick things off with a raucous shindig, hosted by industry heavyweights. With her bleach-blonde curls and shrieking voice, Lina is the cartoonish villain of Singin' in the Rain, and Hagen earned one of the film's few Oscar nominations for her dialed-up, nasally performance. [Margot Robbie's](https://ew.com/person/margot-robbie/) Nellie LaRoy. But Babylon and Singin' in the Rain share a lot of DNA, and every other scene seems to invite comparison, from familiar-sounding lines to carefully selected costume choices. One is a candy-colored musical where Gene Kelly cheerfully tap dances in a thunderstorm; another is a hedonistic epic stuffed with orgies, cocaine, and a literal waterfall of elephant poop. Singin' in the Rain isn't the sole inspiration for Babylon: Chazelle The director has often cited Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's 1952 classic as one of his personal favorites, and when it came time for him to direct his own lavish movie-musical, 2016's [La La Land](https://ew.com/creative-work/la-la-land/), he was heavily influenced by Kelly's iconic tap-dancing and vibrant dream ballets.