10 Shocking Movie Moments That Made People Leave The Cinema

Gaspar Noé's dark and transgressive masterwork has been no stranger to hostile audiences throughout its tenure on our screens, and has inspired more hatred than most, but Irréversible's history of controversy all began at Cannes.

The film is a reverse-chronology revenge flick that takes delight in antagonising its viewers, with epileptic camerawork and no violence spared.

At the midpoint of the film, we are subjected to a single, unbroken, ten minute long rape scene in an underpass. No detail is spared as Monica Bellucci's Alex is brutally assaulted, beaten and left in a coma.

Many women and some men found themselves unable to stay put for this most unbearable of scenes. Roughly two hundred and fifty patrons in total walked out of the Cannes screening, a selection of whom famously needed urgent medical attention and had to be treated and administered oxygen by the fire brigade.

Noé's features are no stranger to walkouts however, and he has stated himself that he usually banks on losing at least a quarter of his cinema audience.