250 people stormed out of Cannes screening over 'disturbing' film that caused 20 viewers to faint

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.

The Cannes Film Festival is famous for its mass walkouts and extended multi-minute standing ovations, but the worst ever walkout saw some viewers requiring medical attention.

The extreme reactions of viewers always creates headlines from the Cannes Film Festival, with this year’s top standing ovation seeing critics spend 20 minutes celebrating Penelope Cruz’s new film La Bola Negra.

The worst walkout however took place because of a ‘disturbing’ film and led to more than 250 people storming out of the cinema before it ended. A new viral clip has shown some of the reactions from critics to Gaspar Noe’s Irréversible, with one particularly furious viewer saying: “It’s disgusting. I’m asking myself why we do those kind of things when there are so many things in the world that are even more disgusting. There’s too much violence.”

What is Irréversible and why were people reacting so strongly to it?

The French film has a surprisingly star-studded cast considering how controversial it is, with husband and wife Vincent Cassel and Monica Belluci playing the two lead roles.

The film takes place over reverse chronological order as two men commence a quest for vengeance for raping a young woman they both love.

Critics and filmmakers attending the screening at Cannes were aware of this, with warnings issued about the content of the movie.

In the film however Belluci’s Alex tries to intervene as she encounters a man attacking a transgender prostitute, leading the man to turn around and rape Alex.

The scene is nine minutes long and is incredibly graphic and detailed. In addition to this there is a scene where another man tries to rape Cassel’s Marcus before his friend beats the attacker to death with a fire extinguisher.

After the conclusion of the film it still got a five minute standing ovation, but for anyone who knows about Cannes this is the equivalent to a negative review from attendees.

Bellucci said of the reaction: “This is a film that people love or they hate, but it's good to have these kind of extremes.”

Between 200 and 250 viewers stormed out of the screening, with 20 requiring medical attention

As a result of the graphic rape scene, which followed the murder and arm-break scenes which were shown first in the version at Cannes due to it taking place in reverse chronological order, between 200 and 250 people stormed out mid-film.

Speaking to the BBC at the time, Fire brigade spokesman Lieutenant Gerard Courtel said: "In 25 years in my job I've never seen this at the Cannes festival. The scenes in this film are unbearable, even for us professionals.”

When Gaspar Noe's Irréversible caused record 200+ walkouts in Cannes 2002. #filmtwt pic.twitter.com/RGPAMbr7hD

— Auteur House (@auteurhouse) May 25, 2026

20 people fainted and had to be administered oxygen, with legendary film critic Roger Ebert saying: “This is a movie so violent and cruel that most people will find it unwatchable.”

Some of the reviews are incredibly emotional, with Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle saying in 2003: “Is there a point to this spew, a cry against the mongrel violence of men? Or is Noe merely a sadist who enjoys inflicting ugly, pitiless images on his audience?”

In the footage of those walking out at Cannes some yell that he is ‘mentally ill’ and ‘sick’, whilst another called it ‘scandalous’ and said it was ‘pathetic’.