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An explicit NC-17 movie is proving surprisingly popular on Netflix

A controversial and very explicit NC-17 movie has been capturing the imagination of Netflix subscribers everywhere.

nymphomaniac

Lars von Trier has built his entire career on being provocative, to the extent that it’d be much more of a surprise at this stage if one of his movies came and went without a single shred of controversy.

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The acclaimed filmmaker thrives on pushing the boundaries of what can be committed to celluloid in a mainstream film, and his two-part erotic odyssey Nymphomaniac is a perfect example. In the broadest terms, the story follows a woman self-diagnosed with the titular condition, who regales the audience with her tales.

Divvied up into eight chapters told across two volumes, the uncut and complete version of Nymphomaniac runs for a butt-numbing 325 minutes. As per FlixPatrol, it’s Vol. I that’s been capturing the imagination of Netflix subscribers everywhere, though, having reached the platform’s Top 10 most-watched list in no less than seven different countries.

nymphomaniac

There was backlash at almost every turn, ranging from character posters that depicted the star-studded ensemble at the moment of climax, as well as a full-length trailer that was full of sexually explicit content. Nymphomaniac was originally awarded an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, which von Trier ended up completely disregarding in favor of going completely unrated instead.

That turned out to be a shockingly shrewd move after Vol. I earned over $13 million at the box office, with the combined production costs of Nymphomaniac only amounting to $4.5 million, and it’s now finding a saucy new lease of life on streaming.