[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sct_4642.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''To each his own Morality.\\
To each his own Justice.'']]

->'''LA MORT N'OUVRE AUCUNE PORTE[[note]]DEATH OPENS NO DOOR[[/note]]'''

''I Stand Alone'' (French: ''Seul contre tous''; "Alone against everyone") is a 1998 French psychological drama art film, and the debut feature of [[Creator/GasparNoe Gaspar Noé]].

The film focuses on several pivotal days in the life of a former butcher (Philippe Nahon) who knows nothing but continuous abandonment, rejection, abuse, and isolation from almost everyone in his life. He has an InnerMonologue dedicated to regular rants against [[WretchedHive the filthy dregs of France he resides in]], [[HumansAreBastards the even filthier people he interacts with]], [[StrawNihilist and the wider emptiness of life as a whole]].

The narrative is a direct continuation of Noé's short film ''Carne'', released seven years prior, in which the Butcher tries to raise his autistic daughter Cynthia and run his meat shop after his wife leaves him. The film [[CallBack recounts the events]] of ''Carne'' in an opening LateArrivalSpoiler slideshow -- when Cynthia reaches her teenage years, the Butcher begins to resist trying to have sex with her; on the day of her first period, the Butcher mistakes the blood as the aftermath of a rape and stabs a man he believes to be the attacker; and he ends up in jail and is forced to sell his meat shop.

''I Stand Alone'' uses this as backstory and continues forward from there. Needless to say, [[FromBadToWorse it gets worse]]. Much worse.

The Butcher would later have a cameo in the opening of Noé's next feature, ''Film/{{Irreversible}}''.
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!!This film provides examples of:
* AbuseMistake: The Butcher plunges a knife into the guy who just happened to meet up with his daughter right after she had her first period. He mistook the blood in her crotch area for rape. The incident costs the Butcher a job later in the film.
* TheAntiNihilist: [[spoiler:The Butcher possibly comes to this conclusion by the end of the film. After imagining a murder-suicide fantasy with his daughter, he ultimately puts his gun away and vows to be good...but the only thing that's keeping him going at this point is his incestuous attraction to his daughter.]]
* AssholeVictim: The Butcher beating up his mistress is horrific, but it was preceded by her verbally and physically accosting him.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: The Butcher's life story is told by the Butcher directly to the audience.
* TheButcher: The Butcher, though he really did work as one.
* TheCakeIsALie: The Butcher's mistress promises to use the money from selling her bar to set up a meat market in a new town with the Butcher. Once they've moved, she recants and forces him to work.
%%* CountryMatters: The Butcher.
* TheCynic: The Butcher in spades. After seeing the woman dies, he delivers a six-minute monologue about how life is empty, everything done in life means nothing and reproductive urges are the only thing worthwhile.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Between his mother leaving him, his father being killed by Nazis, and a priest sexually abusing him, it's safe to say the Butcher didn't have an easy upbringing.
* DaydreamSurprise: [[spoiler:The ImagineSpot of the Butcher committing a brutal murder-suicide with himself and his daughter]] isn't revealed as a fantasy until shortly after the fact, when the scene snaps back to normal.
* DeathIsSuchAnOddThing: The first death that the Butcher ever saw was the old woman's death in the retirement home. He is very unsure of how to process it.
-->"She [the nurse] seems all upset. Yet there's nothing to get all mushy over."
* DirtyOldMan: Despite hating women entirely, the Butcher still loves the young and pretty ones.
* DomesticAbuse: The Butcher beats the shit out of his mistress when she kicks him out and accuses him of being a homosexual ready to [[AllGaysArePedophiles turn her to-be-born child gay]].
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Subverted. The Butcher begins seriously contemplating it towards the end, and as he plots to use the three bullets in his gun to kill the people who have wronged him the most, he opts to use two to kill others and the third on himself. He ends up having a fantasy in which he goes through with it, but after reconciling with his daughter, he ultimately decides against it.]]
* EnemiesList: Once the Butcher acquires a revolver with three bullets in it, he tries to settle on a list of three enemies who deserve the bullets.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: If stabbing a man in the face after assuming the guy raped his daughter isn't enough, [[spoiler:punching his wife's stomach until the baby is aborted]] will do it.
* {{Euroshlock}}
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: Implied by the ward in the retirement home.
* FadeToWhite: When the old woman in the nursing home dies.
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:Once the Butcher meets up with his daughter, he takes her to his hotel room where he imagines having sex with her, shooting her, and then shooting himself. However, once this is all shown to be pure fantasy, he puts his gun away and begins vowing to embrace the meaning in life. As he stares out the window with his daughter, he begins molesting her while rambling about how his love for her is too strong for the world.]] Roll credits.
* HappinessIsMandatory: Downplayed; the Butcher ends up losing a deli job because he refuses to smile.
* HatesEveryoneEqually: The Butcher makes dismissive remarks about women, homosexuals, the rich and French people in general.
* HeManWomanHater: The Butcher. He even monologues about how much he hates women, calling them weak and "poor creatures" with penis envy.
* HeroicBSOD: The Butcher finally has one after [[spoiler: considering a murder-suicide with his daughter.]] He comes out of it by [[spoiler: fondling his daughter.]]
* ImagineSpot:
** The Butcher narrates in his head how he is going to kill the manager of a slaughterhouse he once worked with and then himself, fetishizing every shot fired.
** [[spoiler: He later imagines fondling his daughter, then killing her in a murder-suicide. This imagine spot even has its own {{blipvert}} imagine spot when he hesitates to kill himself.]]
* ImperiledInPregnancy: [[spoiler: The Butcher kills his unborn child when he attacks his wife.]]
* InformedFlaw: The Butcher's daughter is mentioned to be autistic, but she really seems lethargic and indifferent when she finally appears on screen.
* InnerMonologue: Nearly all of the film's dialogue comes from the Butcher's thoughts.
* ItsUpToYou: Everyone the Butcher knows in Paris is unable to help him with his financial woes.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: The final shot leaves the hotel window where [[spoiler: the Butcher is fondling his daughter]] and focuses on a road for a bit.
* MenCantKeepHouse: The Butcher can't keep a job for long and regards [[StayInTheKitchen housework as a woman's job]].
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:In his murder-suicide fantasy, the Butcher shoots his daughter in the neck and watches her writhe on the ground as he deliberates whether or not to shoot her again through the head to put her out of her misery. He does.]]
* NoNameGiven: The Butcher remains nameless throughout this film, just like in ''Carne''. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an aversion, as eagle-eyed viewers will find that his name is given during the introduction as Philippe Chevalier.]]
* ParentalAbandonment: The Butcher's mother leaves him when he is four. The Butcher's wife leaves him with his daughter right after she gave birth, since she only wanted a son.
* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler: In the end, the Butcher resolves to have children with his daughter.]]
* PedophilePriest: The Butcher was sexually assaulted by a priest at the age of six.
* PerpetualFrowner: The Butcher's face spends almost all of the runtime in a firm scowl. Considering how much life has given him to scowl about, it's justified.
* PervertDad: The Butcher really tries to resist having sex with his daughter.
* PhotoMontage: After the opening scene, the Butcher's entire past (and the events of ''Carne'') is shown through a very detailed set of stills.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveANuke: The man at the start of the film showing off his gun as his "justice":
-->"Whether you're right or whether you're wrong… same difference, friend."
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: The Butcher is convinced that his mistress believes this.
-->"Besides, I want [to buy this meat.] It's my money, I'm pregnant and fuck you."
* SelfDeprecation: A meta example:
-->"It [the story] starts off in France, shithole of cheese and Nazi lovers."
* SirSwearsALot: The Butcher.
-->"Shit sausage. Shit wine. Shit family in a fuckshit hole. Look at you now, Butcher."
* SmashCut: Used ''relentlessly'' throughout the film, complete with a crashing noise, without any provocation. They start going up when the Butcher gets angry.
* SnicketWarningLabel: The climax of the film is preceded by a full screen warning card stating "YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO LEAVE THE SCREENING OF THIS FILM," accompanied by a countdown. The last five seconds flash the word "DANGER" with a klaxon to let the audience know it's serious.
* TheSpeechless: The Butcher's daughter Cynthia, as a result of autism.
* TitleCard: A few appear in the film, featuring a line of dialogue that has just been spoken.
* ThousandYardStare: [[spoiler:In the murder-suicide fantasy the Butcher has, he backs up against the wall after killing his daughter, his shock and trauma reflecting firmly in his eyes.]]
* TraumaCongaLine: The Butcher's entire life.
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: The Butcher eventually convinces himself that it's up to him to deliver justice upon all who wrong him and that it will make his life better.
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:After the Butcher's wife begins a verbal altercation with him, things get physical and the Butcher retaliates by kneeing and punching her in the stomach, likely killing their baby. Once he flees the city not long after, he rationalizes the event by stating that he spared the baby of a life with his wife.]]
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