Irreversible (2002) 7/10

In the past couple of years we've seen a huge surge in extremely dark and gory French horror. Irreversible is often written of as the start of all this interest in the darkest parts of french life.

Irreversible is about a night filled with tragedy and violence. A woman is vicsiously raped and her boyfriend sets out to find the man responsible and kill him.

The film takes place in the span of a few hours and starts from the horrible conclusion and works backwards to the beginning of the night. The film starts off with chaotic camera work that's barely watchable at the height of the conflict and as the film works backwards to the more stable beginning of the night, the shooting becomes more stable. This is of course jarring, as is the backwards time travel but due to the adept directing, I became used to it. The film's director also did the infamous I Stand Alone so I knew what I was getting into but still the film was very brutal and shocking. This is primarily due to the realism of the situation as well as the abrasive directing style. The film is nicely paced and very well acted. That being said I don't really know why the film is put together backwards. I actually think it might work better as a traditional narrative but it still works here.

Irreversible is a film for serious film people and is graphic and nihilistic. Nothing sweet or nice here. Its a challenging film for those looking for something unique.

Gore-One scene, but a very graphic one

Nudity - medium

Overall - 7/10