A self-satisfied, utterly hollow Bacchanal.

110 minutes of Euro silliness mitigated only by the presence of Huppert and the striking ability of the actors to keep a straight face throughout this mess.

Probably isn't for anyone not interested in the darkest corners of the human psyche, where sexual annihilation is the only response to a fallen world, where all moral bets are off, and where a boy's worst friend is his mother.

Fascinating and erotic -- if also difficult and disturbing -- Christophe Honoré's ambitious adaptation of Georges Bataille's novel prevails because of the frank treatment of its serious subject matter.