Over 100 people stormed out of the screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
Director Lars Von Trier is no stranger to courting controversy.
His movies have always had a potentially upsetting influence on the audience, from the sexual violence in Antichrist to the, well, sexual violence in Nymphomaniac, Von Trier has never shied away from the extreme topics.
He was also the guy who was temporarily banned from the Cannes Film Festival a few years ago when he seemed to support Nazism.
Since then he has been invited back, and with him he has brought his new serial killer thriller The House That Jack Built, and the reaction was immediate and strong.
The trailer for the movie has just been released, and some viewers may find the context within quite distressing:
Clip via Curzon
The movie is set in 1970, and deals with Jack (Matt Dillon), an intelligent serial killer, and charts the course of his interactions with his victims, some of whom include characters played by Uma Thurman and Riley Keough.
The scene did that seem to spark the walkout from the audience involved Jack’s violent murder of two young children, which is hinted at in the trailer.
While a large portion did leave the movie before it ended, those who remained apparently gave a standing ovation as the closing credits rolled.
Those in attendance took to Twitter to remark on the audience’s reaction:
I’ve never seen anything like this at a film festival. More than 100 people have walked out of Lars von Trier’s ‘The House That Jack Built,’ which depicts the mutilation of women and children. “It’s disgusting,” one woman said on her way out. #Cannes2018 pic.twitter.com/GsBGCoyHEG
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/kylebuchanan/status/996158672375083009
This is how quickly the audience clearly out after Lars von Trier’s ‘The House That Jack Built.’ #Cannes2018 pic.twitter.com/yxZJJww71w
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/paulwdonoughue/status/996166573768392710
The scene that led to the walkouts of ‘The House That Jack Built’ had Matt Dillon aiming a rifle at two small children, blowing their heads off. Why did #Cannes2018 let this film in the festival? https://t.co/OkaipZChR3
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 15, 2018
Cannes still indulging the festering garbage that is Lars Von Trier https://t.co/SoOCWNiKgU pic.twitter.com/vzmIUzsRye
— Anita Singh (@anitathetweeter) May 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/davidehrlich/status/996314734281547777
HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT: Artist as killer, killer as artist, round and round we go. The sheer unforgettable gall of the torture porn here feels like a distraction from LvT's uncharacteristic lack of intellectual conviction, which isn't to brush its extremities aside: how can you?
— Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) May 15, 2018
There is no set release date for The House That Jack Built in Ireland or the UK just yet, but it is expected to arrive some time in November this year.
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