Von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark) shocked audiences at Cannes last year with this uncompromisingly visceral and gorgeous allegorical thriller which the provocative auteur calls the “most important film of my entire career”. Charlotte Gainsbourg (who won Best Actress at the festival) and Willem Dafoe give brave, strong performances as a couple who, following the accidental death of their son, retreat to a cabin in the woods to grieve. There, the film descends rapidly into a feral, dreamlike struggle between human and nature, love and madness, reason and emotion, good and evil.

Antichrist weaves a dreamlike thread through some intriguing premises, most notably that nature might not be the nurturing force we hope for. At times you are watching the cinematic equivalent of a Holbein painting, whilst at others you are in the middle of medieval horror.

I think there is much in Antichrist to praise and rave about; equally I know there is much that will cause disquiet for some. The audience will certainly be divided. (Lars wouldn’t want it any other way.) As a footnote: the Cannes Jury, headed by Isabelle Huppert, gave Charlotte Gainsbourg the Best Actress prize. A brave decision for a brave performance.