Amazing film. Visually stunning and hard hitting. It might not be a film you can 'like' or watch a million times, but it's certainly one to remember.

Most people who express an interest in this film have, by now, either seen it, or heard about it and want to see what all the fuss is about. Similarly, most people are aware of the two most talked-about scenes: the rape and the fire extinguisher. There seems to be divided opinion about which is the most harrowing of the two, but for me, the rape scene is far more disturbing than the one with the fire extinguisher, which itself is pretty horrific. It is easily the most disturbing scene I've ever had to endure - it really is difficult to watch, chiefly because it goes on for so long, the sheer brutality of the aggressor, even after the rape, and the dialogue during the scene, but also because it really drives home how sickening and violent the crime of rape is, and this is what makes the scene important, because it represents such a harsh, and real, reality. That scene will stay with me for a while, I imagine - it's hard to erase the intensity of it from memory. I'm curious as to how hard it was for the 2 actors to shoot the scene. As for the rest of the film, it is not at all overshadowed by the aforementioned violence. Right from the outset, you know this is going to be a different film; the reverse story-telling works really well, and as a whole, the film requires some patience, until you get an idea of what is happening. The dark, seedy gay club where the film begins immediately gives the film the atmosphere that Director Gasper Noe probably envisioned. Some of the camera work is, intentionally, very disorientating, and a lot of the scenes that follow are very frenetic, mimicking, and emphasising, the many emotions the protagonists are going through. Vincent Cassell (La Haine, L'Appartement) and Monica Bellucci (L'Appartement, The Matrix Reloaded, Malena) are both excellent as the ill-fated couple, whose world plunges into nightmare during a night out at a party. The final few scenes are thought-provoking, beautifully shot, but also quite harsh, since you already know the nightmare these two lovers will go through in a few hours' time. This is a particularly disturbing film, but at the same time a must-see piece of cinema for anybody who likes to be challenged.