Gaspar Noé's Irreversible utilizes the same storytelling technique used by
Christopher Nolan in
Memento and
Harold Pinter in
Betrayal. Consisting of about a dozen scenes, all shot in single takes, Irreversible charts a disturbing night in the life of Marcus (
Vincent Cassel), but presents the events in reverse chronological order. The audience eventually learns how the beautiful Alex (Cassel's real-life partner
Monica Bellucci) is involved. The film opens with a violent altercation at a gay sex club and works backward to explain how and why the violence occurred. The actors improvised the vast majority of the dialogue starting from a four-page story outline. Irreversible was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide