The basic storyline can be summed up as a revenge tale in which a woman is raped, and her lover and friend attempt to find the rapist to punish him. But those are just plot details. As with Memento, Irreversible chooses to tell its tale in reverse. So the film begins with the end credits which run backwards and are done in a bold all-caps font with many letters reversed for a further disorienting effect. Then theres a kind of prologue with a character known to Noe fans as the Butcher (played by Philippe Nahon in each of Noes films). The Butcher lays out the essential precepts of the film: man is an animal and time destroys all things. The camera eventually moves out the window of the Butchers room to reveal chaos below. A badly beaten man on a stretcher is being taken out of a gay club and hes followed by another man whos being escorted by the police. All the while the gay patrons are hurling vulgar and vile taunts, threats and insults at the pair who were obviously involved in some sort of fight inside the club.
