Young French director Kim Chapiron’s first feature is a deranged corruption of canonical Christianity, a frenzied splicing of horror, brutality, sex and racism into the Fall and Nativity. Three lecherous, psyched-up mates, out looking for kicks on Christmas Eve, accept an invitation to the country pile of teasing temptress Eve (Roxanne Mesquida), where they are swallowed into a mashup of genre props – freaky dolls, retarded hicks, and the gurning Joseph, a pervy caretaker played by Vincent Cassell. Despite modelling themselves on luridly vulgar, violent hip hop artists, fear increasingly punctures their bravado. However, wilfully ignoring Joseph’s tale of a demonic pact, incest and a Christmas child, the friends stay put, hoping to get laid. Which, needless to say, turns out to be a very foolish decision.

Despite its parodic and satirical elements, this is not a coldly ironic film. In fact, it is the collapsing of distance between the film – a speedy, trippy intoxicant – and its protagonists that makes it so endearing. Resolutely non-judgmental, Sheitan shares unapologetically the youthful sensation-seeking of its leads.

Chapiron is a founding member of Koutrajmé, a collective of young French filmmakers all apparently endorsing the exhortation blazoned across the opening of Sheitan: “Lord, do not forgive them, for they know what they do”. Clearly, this project got off the ground thanks to the co-option of Cassell, but with its exuberance, impudence and imagination it marks out Chapiron and Koutrajmé as a hugely exciting prospect with an aggressively contemporary sensibility.