I can see why it may seem like it'll be an empowerment/female revenge flick, but it's not, and not that you're really implying this, but there's nothing wrong with it being about the men in her life avenging her. The poster with the nipples I believe was a deliberate attempt to reel in the folks who may just want to see some tits. I see it as a poignant troll move that goes along with the film nicely. It was bait for the "wrong" audience in order to capture them and beat them into submission. I found it easier to appreciate that aspect after I found out the actress directed the underpass scene herself. She wanted everyone to feel precisely that terrible, from that very perspective, for exactly that long while watching it. To me, Irreversible is a perfectly awful experience.