More Than 100 Walk Out of Shocking Cannes Premiere

Lars von Trier is back at the Cannes film festival, seven years after he was banned for declaring he was a Nazi—and the Danish director is as controversial as ever. His new serial-killer drama, The House That Jack Built, prompted more than 100 people to walk out of its Monday night debut at the festival, with some calling it "disgusting," Variety reports. The movie stars Matt Dillon as a killer who sadistically murders and dismembers women, with one victim played by Uma Thurman. The walkouts began during a scene in which the killer shoots two small children, and there was a steady stream of people leaving during later scenes. Those who remained gave von Trier a standing ovation.

Some critics slammed the "vomitous" movie and said it should never have been made, though others defended it, arguing that anybody going to a von Trier movie about a serial killer should have known what they were in for, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. In a less controversial premiere, director Spike Lee received a 10-minute ovation after the debut of comedy-drama BlacKkKlansman, based on the true story of a black police officer who masterminded the infiltration of a KKK chapter in the 1970s. The audience erupted in applause at least six times during the screening, which had a closing sequence that the Hollywood Reporter calls "one of the most emotional finales to hit Cannes in recent memory." (More Cannes Film Festival stories.)