The House That Jack Built: Lars von Trier film prompts mass Cannes walkout

The world premier of controversial Danish director Lars von Trier’s latest film has prompted at least 100 people to walk out of the theatre in disgust.

Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, The House That Jack Built has been criticised as “gross”, “vile” and “torturous” by some who were in the cinema for the screening.

It stars Matt Dillon as Jack, “a serial killer who views his murders as elaborate works of art”, the Hollywood Reporter says.

Among the scenes that prompted the walkouts are one in which the serial killer “shoots two children at a family picnic in the head with a rifle”, says The Guardian, and one in which a woman is seen “having her breast sliced off”.

It is the first time von Trier has screened a film at Cannes since he was banned in 2011 for making jokes about Hitler.