Acclaimed filmmaker Gaspar Noé’s unflinching exploration of human savagery and the uncompromising nature of time, Irreversible was met with a groundswell of acclaim and uproar upon its premiere at the opening night of Cannes in 2002. Stylish, sexually frank, and brutal, the film’s conceit of exploring the events of one terrible night on the streets of Paris in reverse chronological order was celebrated and derided in equal measure, helping to further cement Noé’s legacy as a cinematic enfant terrible. Nearly 20 years later, Noé brought Irreversible back, presenting the “Straight Cut” to the Venice Film Festival. This reconfigured vision allowed audiences to see the events of the film unfold in the order in which they occur, providing new context for pivotal scenes of brutality and the subsequent quest for revenge.