"100s" of people walked out of a Cannes Film Festival screening of a new horror movie by controversial director Lars Von Trier on Monday evening.
Before The House That Jack Built was shown to attendees at the festival, people were warned that it contained "scenes of sadistic violence and brutality". It stars Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman and has caused uproar in Cannes.
The story follows Jack, a highly intelligent serial killer over the course of 12 years and depicts the murders that truly develop Jack as a serial killer.
One scene features a child removing a duckling's legs with a pair of pliers while another shows Dillon's character shooting two children in the head at a family picnic.
The New York Bureau Chief of US entertainment magazine, Variety, posted photos of the crowd quickly leaving the cinema after one particularly gruesome scene.
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
Lars von Trier’s ‘The House That Jack Built’ was one of the most unpleasant movie-going experiences of my life. #Cannes2018
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 14, 2018
Walked out on LarsvonTrier . Vile movie. Should not have been made. Actors culpable
— Showbiz 411 (@showbiz411) May 14, 2018
Von Trier was previously banned from Cannes Film Festival for making jokes about sympathising with Nazis, yet Melancholia, his 2011 movie starring Kirsten Dunst, received rave reviews from critics.
The House That Jack Built is scheduled for a European cinema release date in late November.
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