A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.
Extremely difficult to endure, and if you choose to endure it, it could leave you feeling angry and upset. Nevertheless, this is serious filmmaking, and Noe is a gifted filmmaker.
– Terry Lawson,
Detroit Free Press,
9 May 2003
fresh:
A fascinating study in excess, a movie that seduces and repulses as it explores the merciless nature of fate.
– Bill Muller,
Arizona Republic,
24 Apr 2003
rotten:
There is nothing moral about Irreversible -- only sneeringly superior and nihilistic, like Johnny Rotten at his most fatuous.
– David Edelstein,
Slate,
22 Apr 2003
fresh:
A genuine outlaw work of art.
– Stephen Hunter,
Washington Post,
11 Apr 2003
rotten:
Fails because of its gratuitous rape and violence and also because of its pretentious and intellectually one-dimensional grounds, which make the violence at the end feel even worse.