Synopsis

On their honeymoon in Paris, American newlyweds Shane and June Brown find their relationship strained by Shane's secret search for a former scientific colleague. Shane is afflicted by an overpowering hunger linked to sexual desire, while the colleague's wife, Core, lives under confinement because of the same terrifying condition. Their parallel stories gradually converge in a nightmare of obsession, violence, and forbidden intimacy.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film grew out of an idea dating back to 1989, when Claire Denis met Vincent Gallo while working on a short film in New York. The original project never materialized, but its horror premise eventually became *Trouble Every Day*.

• Denis developed the screenplay with Jean-Pol Fargeau while working on *Beau Travail*. She reportedly had Gallo in mind for the central role from an early stage.

• The film's sensual, threatening atmosphere was influenced in part by the photography of Jeff Wall. Denis shared Wall's work with cinematographer Agnes Godard as a visual reference during preparation.

• Tindersticks supplied the soundtrack, helping shape the film's unusual blend of romantic melancholy, eroticism, and dread.

• The film premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where its graphic violence divided the audience. Reports from the screening described both walkouts and strong applause.

• An appearance by Alice Houri connects the film with Denis' earlier work *Nenette et Boni*, in which Houri also appeared.

• The film is often discussed as an example of the early-2000s New French Extremity movement, although its emphasis on mood, bodies, and suggestion distinguishes it from more conventional gore-driven horror.

• Its release history was international, with production involvement from France, Germany, and Japan and theatrical distribution in several countries.