Very well executed

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

...so you don't have to.Nauseating camera work combine with a vile plot with a reverse order theme to produce a truly unwatchable mess.It is supposed to be disturbing, dark and artistic. I get that. It is a statement on the evils of rape, revenge and the results of such. Got it. The story has been told better in correct chronological order, better directed and acted...get over it.Free with Amazon prime and nowhere near worth the time spent.

this is actually one of the worst films i have ever seen. not only is it terrible on it's own merit (reverse chronological order! So innovative! So postmodern!), but it's really, genuinely offensive. This is, essentially, a glorified exploitation film. Nothing about it exactly screams "tasteful" or "artistic" like the film was marketed. No, in fact, it's quite the opposite. Exploitative and offensive. Of course, you've got all these pretentious kids talking about how "brutal!" and "unflinching!" the whole affair is. A real "meditation" on "Human nature". I don't see it. Now I've got nothing against all of these "dark" "depressing" "art film" type affairs. Quite the opposite, I think they're totally rad. Just this particular film really, truly angers me.Even ignoring how dreadfully offensive it is, this still isn't a particularly good film. The "innovative" narrative techniques come across as gimmicky more than anything else, and the dialogue is largely pretty bad. I can appreciate what the director is going for, making the whole thing look intentionally ugly and uncomfortable, but even that doesn't entirely succeed.The portrayal of gay characters is also... deeply unfortunate, coming across as almost inhuman monsters. I kind of take issue with that, obviously. The whole inclusion of that comes across as some desperate attempt to make an already edgy and unpleasant film even more so.Of course, I understand that the film was not intended to be especially pleasant or easy to watch, but it feels like the director is trying too hard.Also, does anyone else find it in any way uncomfortable that most reviews comment on how attractive the lead actress is, considering... what film this is?Entirely unimpressedAdmittedly, I have enjoyed the director's other films, and have nothing against him personally. It's just this one, particular film that I take issue with.

I bought Irreversible out of curiosity as media colleagues of mine always bang on about it. I've seen some violent films in my time, and always try to keep an open mind. For example the film 'Funny Games', the original version is as brutal as it gets. Throughout this film you can identify with the 2 culprits and you learn about why they behave so brutally. You are brought into their world, whether you like it or not. Within Irreversible, In some ways you can identify with Alex and Marcus, you may like them,you may not,or you just don't feel anything. Out of all the characters in the film, I didn't like Marcus for some reason, are we supposed to think he is to blame for the brutal the attack on Alex ? The rest of the film just left me numb and bored. By the end all I could think was, what's the point ? Most of the male Characters are assholes, all the women are treated like objects, even Marcus treats Alex like a piece of meat. I just felt it was trying to be shocking without any real point or subject matter. The pitch bend LFO during the club attack scene was grating and distracting. It just seemed to be there for the sake of it. I'm a composer and sound designer. I personally felt it didn't fit in with the rest of the film. There was little if any music elsewhere, and the film was more like a screenplay. Over one night 3 people's lives changed forever, all we really know about the characters are one was a beautiful woman, one of them drank and took drugs as well as treated his girlfriend badly, the 3rd person asked weird questions about people's sex lives whilst appointing himself protector of women. Violence for the sake of it without really exploring any purpose. Maybe that was the whole point ? In order to somehow be shocking, when actually it lacked substance. I was bored and nearly turned the film off.

You know? The thing I most value when I am watching a movie is the chance that catharsis could happen. Something that happens in very few occasions but something that I chase frequently. Then there are the movies that leave me lukewarm, which are the majority. Then there is Irreversible, which provoked in me something resembling an anti-catharsis. I would never have imagined such a rejection for a movie, such a feeling of dirt. Did the movie want to explore the limits of cinema? He succeeded but at the expense of cinematography. I would encourage anyone to ignore such a bad taste movie. The end is not justified. The means are not such. There is controversy and morbid about this film but it has nothing to do with art, I think.