Final Girl on 6th Ave: Irreversible (2002)
Ready to steel your nerves and go to some dark, dark places with us? Once you experience “Irreversible”, you’ll never be the same again.
On this episode of The Final Girl on 6th Ave, host Carolyn Smith-Hilmmer takes a deep dive into the shocking, hard-to-stomach, impossible-to-look-away from French film Irreversible from the terrible genius of enfant terrible Gaspar Noé. If this movie doesn’t scar you, nothing will. – Stephanie (Editor-in-Chief)
SHOW NOTES FROM HOST CAROLYN SMITH-HILLMER:
I don’t know if there has ever been a more difficult film for me to sit through than this one. Gaspar Noé’s IRREVERSIBLE (2002) gave me both a nightmare and an existential crisis. Viewed in reverse-chronological order, this film will leave you upset with yourself for having watched it and proud that you made it to the very end.
Irréversible depicts the events of a tragic night in Paris as two men attempt to avenge the brutal rape and beating of the woman they love. The film is made up of a title sequence followed by 13 segments made to look like long takes. Each of these segments is either a continuous shot or a series of shots digitally composited to resemble a continuous shot. The story is told in reverse order, with each scene taking place chronologically before the one that precedes it.
Critical reception was mixed, with praise towards the performances and the direction. However, criticism was strong for the film’s exceedingly graphic portrayal of violence and rape. It’s a film by Robert Ebert famously called unwatchable due to how nasty and violent it is. And no doubt, many will find this extreme horror film too much to take. But is there value in trying to endure one of the most notorious horror films of all time? Tune in as we discuss.
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SOURCES
IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0290673/
Mephistopheles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephistopheles
An Experiment with Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Experiment_with_Time
IndieWire Interview: https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/why-gaspar-noe-directed-on-cocaine-masturbated-in-his-own-film-and-shot-a-live-birth-55975/
Article from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/aug/02/artsfeatures.festivals
Laws of Thermodynamics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics
ABOUT THE SHOW:
The Final Girl on 6th Ave is a weekly show where host, Carolyn Smith-Hillmer, dissects an arthouse/elevated horror film. Each episode includes a detailed play-by-play of the film itself and a subsequent deep dive into the thematic elements and symbolism. Because elevated horror is sometimes viewed within the horror community as pretentious, Carolyn makes sure to use her down-to-earth tone and unique perspective to make these films less intimidating for the casual horror viewer and less ostentatious for the genre lover.
Listen to more episodes on the show’s website here.
The Final Girl on 6th Ave is a bi-weekly podcast where host Carolyn Smith-Hillmer reviews arthouse horror films in a non-pretentious way.
Lars von Tier and Horror
Lars von Trier has been called a visionary, a sadist, and a self‑mythologizing provocateur—sometimes all in the same breath. In this episode, we unpack how an anxious kid from Copenhagen became one of the most controversial figures in world cinema, and why his work looms so large over modern horror and “extreme” art‑film. Focusing on Antichrist, Melancholia, Nymphomaniac, and The House That Jack Built, we explore von Trier’s “Depression Trilogy,” his use of grief, sex, and violence, and the ongoing debates about misogyny, ethics, and audience complicity. Along the way, we bring in film scholarship, critical essays, and production histories to ask a simple but uncomfortable question: when von Trier pushes horror this far, is he revealing something profound about suffering—or just building a house out of pain?
SOURCES/INFORMATION
Biographical and career overviews
“Lars von Trier.” Wikipedia.wikipedia
“Lars von Trier – Simple English Wikipedia.” Simple Wikipedia.wikipedia
“Lars von Trier.” Encyclopaedia Britannica (biography, awards, filmography).britannica
“Lars von Trier filmography.” Wikipedia.wikipedia
“Lars von Trier – IMDb.” IMDb.imdb
“List of awards and nominations received by Lars von Trier.” Wikipedia.wikipedia
Context and Danish film culture
“Lars von Trier and Cultural Liberalism.” Danish Film Institute.dfi
Excerpt from Regional and Global Dimensions of Danish Film Culture and Film Policy (on Dogme 95 and Danish film branding).catalogimages.wiley
Critical profiles and interviews
“Lars von Trier: Behind the Curtain.” The New Yorker (profile on von Trier’s persona and controversies).mubi+1
“Lars von Trier: A Problematic Sort of Ladies’ Man?” NPR radio piece and transcript (Pat Dowell, with Caroline Bainbridge).npr+1
“The Many Faces of Lars von Trier.” BFI feature.bfi
“Lars von Trier: An Overview.” Film Festival Today (career overview).filmfestivaltoday
Horror‑specific and film‑specific sources
“The Immersive Examination of Depression and Grief in ‘Antichrist’ [Unveiling the Mind].” Bloody Disgusting.bloody-disgusting+1
“Antichrist (2009)” – film entry and production details. IMDb and Wikipedia.imdb+1
“The House That Jack Built (2018).” IMDb (plot, reception).imdb
“Manically Macabre: Lars von Trier as Horror Icon.” Horror Obsessive.horrorobsessive
“‘Terrifier 2’ and 9 Other Horror Movies Which Famously Made Audiences Sick.” Collider (section on Antichrist).collider
Scholarly / analytical work
“Lars von Trier – The ‘Sex’pression Ideology.” Academic essay (via Academia.edu PDF).academia
Caroline Bainbridge, The Cinema of Lars von Trier (discussed in NPR and academic contexts).npr+1
Career primers
“Notebook Primer: Lars von Trier.” MUBI Notebook.
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