Synopsis
A man rescues a woman from a suicide attempt in a gay nightclub. Walking the streets together, she propositions him: She'll pay him to visit her at her isolated house for four consecutive nights. There he will silently watch her. He's reluctant, but agrees. As the four nights progress, they become more intimate with each other, and a mutual fascination/revulsion develops. By the end of the four-day "contract", these two total strangers will have had a profound impact on each other.
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Cast
- Amira CasarThe Woman
- Rocco SiffrediThe Man
- Alexandre BelinBlowjob Lover 1
- Manuel TaglangBlowjob Lover 2
- Jacques MongeMan in Bar
- Claudio CarvalhoBoy with the Bird
- Carolina LopesLittle Girl
- Diego RodriguesBoy Playing Doctor
- João MarquesBoy Playing Doctor
- Bruno FernandesBoy Playing Doctor
Recommendations
- 70
Variety
Compact, ultra-explicit two-character pic about what transpires when a beautiful straight woman hires a handsome gay man to "look" at her is gloriously mannered, proudly pretentious and undeniably compelling. - 70
Village Voice
Anatomy of Hell gives a feminist twist to a French literary tradition that goes back to the Marquis de Sade. It's also svelte, assured filmmaking. - 60
Los Angeles Times
What follows is graphic, but it's too cerebral and too challenging to be dismissed as pornography. - 60
TV Guide Magazine
If you're feeling open-minded and a little adventurous, this chilling exploration of the gender gap from Gallic bad-girl Catherine Breillat is worth a look. - 38
New York Daily News
The award for hardest-to-watch movie of the year. - 25
Boston Globe
Despite all that onscreen turgidness, Anatomy of Hell is itself so much a matter of the mind that it never rises above theory. - 25
Christian Science Monitor
Breillat is a smart, serious observer of sexuality's often disruptive role in human life, but this existential drama is sadly pretentious. - 25
New York Post
Ranks high on the squirm meter. But, unlike in most of her earlier work, there's no emotional payoff.
