Irreversible: The Straight Cut
Director: Gaspar Noé Run Time: 97 min. Format: DCP Rating: NR Release Year: 2002
Starring: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel
US premiere
Content Warning: This film contains graphic sexual content and violence
If you’ve experienced Gaspar Noé’s incredible IRREVERSIBLE, you know that it’s an assaultive and brilliant look at the psychological damages caused by sexual violence and blood-lusting revenge, one presented as a backwards narrative that unconventionally reveals its characters motivations. Their actions, as well as the nihilism of the film itself, take on a whole new dynamic here, with Noé presenting the narrative in its proper chronological order, giving an already singularly powerful masterpiece the ability to cause a newfound dose of visceral devastation. —Matt Barone