Audience members reportedly walked out of the “Crimes of the Future” premier at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.
The film, which stars Kristen Stewart, Léa Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen, allegedly includes scenes filled with child autopsies, bloody organs, body mutilations and people getting sexual gratification while licking open wounds, according to the New York Post. A majority of those who walked out of the screening left within the first five minutes at a particularly grotesque scene where Seydoux licks an open wound, the Post reported.
A New York Times reporter tweeted from the theatre, saying he counted 15 people who walked out “definitely did so during notably gross plot developments.” (RELATED: Parents Facing Murder Charges After Woman Found ‘Melted’ On Couch Get Released From Jail)
REPORT: Coroner Says He Cried, Couldn’t Eat For A Week In Most Heinous Crime He’s Ever Seen https://t.co/fW0coOo8sO
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 28, 2022
Variety and the Daily Mail reported that multiple people walked out of the film, but Entertainment Weekly said that only one person left the theatre to use the restroom. The film’s director, David Cronenberg said that he was “sure that we will have walkouts within the first five minutes” of the film, but the 15 people who left came from the press screening, not the official premier audience members, Entertainment Weekly reported.
Despite the “gross” nature of the film, Cronenberg received a seven-minute standing ovation after the screening concluded. He told the audience that he “hope you mean it. I’ll be texting you all to see that you really meant it,” according to the outlet.