I Stand Alone (Seul Contre Tous)

1998
France
1h 33min
18

Directed by: Gaspar Noé
Written by: Gaspar Noé
Cast: Philippe Nahon, Blandine Lenoir, Frankye Pain, Martine Audrain
Language: French

Hardcore penetrative sex and a nauseating scene in which a pregnant woman is repeatedly punched in the stomach. Disturbing and graphic? Yes. Gratuitous shock tactics? No: only material of such uncompromising brutality can bring the viewer close to the utter desolation felt by the main character, an unemployed 50-year-old butcher who has been slammed into a dead-end existence.