The chilling dance routine from Greek director Romain Gavras for the song Storm was re-enacted live at the MTV Video Music Awards, creating one of the brightest highlights of the broadcast despite the video not taking home an award.
The live stage presentation faithfully recreated the original choreography, with one key alteration made for live broadcast rules. Performers substituted an impressive ice cream cone for the cigarette smoked by the lead character in the original music video.
Gavras created the seven-minute short film last May to accompany the track Storm by music project GENER8ION featuring Swedish rapper Yung Lean. The video quickly went viral on social media platforms, drawing praise from millions of viewers worldwide.
Set in a grim British school, the narrative centers on troubled youths displaying abusive behavior, intense bullying, drug use in deserted classrooms, and physical fights. The centerpiece of the video depicts Yung Lean standing jacketless in a sea of classmates in a scene structured like a formal group photograph while smoking a cigarette.
Viral Success and Critical Acclaim
The video logged more than 4.5 million views on YouTube within eight days of its initial upload. In the months following its release, total views on the platform expanded past 27 million.
Beyond its view count, international media outlets praised the artistic merit of the project. British magazine Esquire named it the music video of the year, highlighting the direction and choreography, while top comments on YouTube urged that the creators receive every available award.
Artistic Background and Cultural Context
Romain Gavras is a Greek-French filmmaker recognized for directing visually striking music videos as well as feature films. GENER8ION is the multidisciplinary music project of French electronic producer Surkin, while Yung Lean is an influential Swedish recording artist credited with pioneering early cloud rap music.
The MTV Video Music Awards, presented annually by the music network, honor outstanding achievements in the music video medium. Although the Storm short film did not win a trophy during the ceremony, its live choreography routine remains one of the night's most celebrated moments.
