10 Disturbing Movies You'll Struggle To Finish

Gaspar Noé knows a thing or two about pushing cinema to the absolute limits: his debut film I Stand Alone concluded with a chilling scene of incestuous molestation. Irréversible took things even further, remaining to this day one of the most controversial and disturbing French films of all time.

Playing out in reverse chronology, Irréversible begins with two friends (Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel) on the hunt for the rapist of one of their girlfriends (Monica Bellucci). They find who they think is the culprit in a seedy S&M nightclub and proceed to cave his skull in with a fire extinguisher - it's an unflinching single shot which is almost impossible to watch without looking away.

If that wasn't grim enough, the film plays back to the rape itself, which again plays out in another single shot and lasts for ten minutes (but feels much, much longer). Roger Ebert summed up the effects perfectly in his review, describing Irréversible as " a movie so violent and cruel that most people will find it unwatchable". That said, it's hard to deny Noé 's craftsmanship as a director.