Madonna has unveiled Confessions II – The Film, a bold and provocative visual companion to her forthcoming album Confessions II, which is due for release next month.

Premiering at the Tribeca Festival in New York before arriving on YouTube, the nearly 14-minute film features an extraordinary cast of actors, athletes, musicians and cultural figures. Among those appearing are Sabrina Carpenter, Kate Moss, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard E. Grant, Julia Garner, Gwendoline Christie, Honey Dijon, Shygirl, Arca, Cole Palmer, João Pedro and Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes Leon.

Directed by the acclaimed duo Torso, the film serves as a teaser for the first six songs from Madonna’s long-awaited sequel to her 2005 dance-pop classic Confessions on a Dance Floor.

The opening sequence sees Madonna declare, “I can be whoever I want to be”, before moving through a surreal landscape of cameras, flashing spotlights and club imagery. As she remarks, “that’s why I like to go dancing”, the visual narrative becomes increasingly abstract, accompanied by the statement that “everything begins with consciousness”.

Throughout the film, Madonna presents a series of striking and often controversial images. Green security-style beams appear to emanate from people’s genitals, while another sequence finds the singer dancing on a moving table inside a speeding car.

The visual focus then shifts to sweat-covered torsos glittering beneath nightclub lights before Madonna sends an invitation to viewers with the line, “C’mon, meet me on the dance floor”. Colombian artist Feid appears on the soundtrack, performing the Spanish-language verse.

Later scenes continue the film’s provocative symbolism, including another moment in which light appears to emerge from Madonna’s open legs. The project concludes with people dressed in lingerie eating bananas while watching Madonna on television, before Lourdes Leon delivers the final line: “cut, b*tch”.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Madonna explained her thinking behind Confessions II – The Film.“I like the idea of film, because I’m a ‘film-phile,’ a cinephile, and film has inspired a good part of my life.”

“The movie’s really about connection,” she added. “I emerge from my solitude of this apartment and go right into a forest with people with lasers coming out of their asses. You just really go through life, take risks, be curious, be observant… And put your f*cking phones down and connect.”