Antichrist was the talking point at this year's Cannes film festival, with von Trier earning plaudits and shocked responses in almost equal measure.

The drama follows a grieving couple (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) who go to a retreat in the woods, but what is supposed to be 'Eden' turns out to be anything but paradise. Gainsbourg earned the Best Performance by an Actress prize at Cannes.

The film features graphic scenes of sex, sexual violence and genital self-mutiliation, but has been passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification, with an '18' certificate.

The Danish director of The Idiots and Dogville is no stranger to controversy, but Antichrist prompted Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times to comment: “Never before have a man and woman inflicted more pain upon each other in a movie. We looked in disbelief.”

Regardless of the controversy, von Trier remains one of modern cinema's most influential figures, and he said of Antichrist at Cannes: "I’ve made this little film, that I’m rather fond of, for me. I don’t think I owe anybody an explanation."

Antichrist is screening on 24 June at Cineworld. Tickets are on sale now. 

CONSUMER ADVICE: Contains strong real sex scenes, bloody violence and self-mutilation. Antichrist is being screened as an 18+ film.