Recklessly perched on the edge of the ludicrous, this examination of a destructive erotic passion unfolds with an unsettling mixture of steam and mordant iron.

Bitter Moon is half-digested and grossly undramatised, a loop-tape of explanations and voiceover; the longer it goes on, the more it drains our interest away.

Deliberately provocative, infuriatingly melodramatic, this is a film that begs not to be taken seriously, and requires a ready suspension of moral discernment for maximum enjoyment.

It's not often that you see a film that needs therapy more than the characters that appear in it.