The film, directed by Lars von Trier, unfolds in two parts and features a star-studded cast including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Jean-Marc Barr, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen, and Mia Goth.

The story follows a self-described nymphomaniac who recounts her life after being found injured in an alley by an older man.

Across eight chapters, she shares experiences from childhood through age 50, exploring relationships, personal struggles, and addictive behaviors, while the man listening provides his own intellectual and sometimes unusual interpretations.

Viewer warnings for intense scenes

Because the film features realistic adult scenes created through a combination of performance and digital effects, many viewers have taken to social media to caution others about watching it in shared spaces.

“If your planning to watch Nymphomaniac pt.1 & 2. Watch it alone,” one person wrote.

”I shouldn’t have watched this when I was younger,” another added.

Another added: ”I feel like I should probably watch Nymphomaniac alone… Don’t ask questions.”

Before release, producer Louise Vesth explained the filming process to The Hollywood Reporter at Cannes.

“We shot the actors pretending to have [adult activity] and then had the body doubles who really did [adult activity] and in post we will digital impose the two,” Vesth said. “So above the waist it will be the star and the below the waist it will be the doubles.”

Critics are divided but passionate

Critical reactions to the project have been mixed but often intense. Volume one of the film holds a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while volume two scored 59%.

Some reviewers praised the film’s ambition, performances, and unconventional storytelling.

“With its wildly absurdist obscenities, fearlessly bold performances and wilfully indulgent lack of structure, Nymphomaniac provokes the now familiar symphony of sighs, gasps and laughs,” one critic wrote.

Another commented: ”Outrageous, inspired, infuriating, puerile, confounding, cruel, beautiful, funny – Nymphomaniac is a film you can’t dismiss with a simple ‘good/not good’.”

Others criticized it for feeling emotionally distant or excessively graphic.

“For those who don’t equate [adult appetite] with the intricacies of fly fishing, Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1 is more tiresome than titillating,” one review read. “Nymphomaniac is a peculiar, downbeat and decidedly male view of a woman’s appetites, not an honest assessment of her multifarious desires.”

Both volumes of Nymphomaniac are currently available to stream on Netflix and Kanopy in the U.S.