This is definitely not one for the squeamish. The film begins by telling us about horsemeat, and how, though it is eaten in France, it is generally considered faintly repulsive. It then proceeds to arouse various levels of revulsion in us with a graphic depiction of blood, sex, butchery and birth.

This all takes place in a fog of red and black, relieved only by intrusive black-and-white signs giving time and setting. The soundtrack is strongly reminiscent of David Lynch's Eraserhead, arrythmic beats contrasting with stark silences and low-pitched humming.

Dialogue is kept to a minimum, and most of it cannot even call itself that, being limited to the butcher talking to his unresponsive and presumably mentally handicapped daughter, or to his overheard thought processes.

The cinematography is just as disconcerting, with cut-off heads, sudden changes of angle, and random shots of scenery.

The story is about a horsemeat butcher left in sole charge of his daughter, whose life doesn't change much as she grows up, until he suspects a labourer of raping her.

Sexual tension is at a maximum from the very beginning, as we see the butcher washing and dressing his daughter from birth to adolescence, while her only pleasure appears to be riding a fairground horse.

All the relationships are stunted in some way, and we are left with only bodies and their functions. An intensely disturbing attack on the senses.