A lemming gets stuck in the pipes under the kitchen sink. Odd thing to happen. But even odder things are gonna happen soon.
Your model married life as Mr & Mrs Suburbia is going to go seriously – and psychotically – awry.
Enter Charlotte Rampling with sunglasses and frown; a very volatile dinner guest. Chucks red wine over suave hubbies face. He deserves it – cus he’s been dicking with whores again (apparently) And tried to kill her once – about 20 years ago. She didn’t leave him cus she wants to “see him die“.
Rampling broods with frozen menace and malevolence. Tries to cop off with Laurent Lucas – but he resists (this scene turns out to be pivotal in a lot of the machinations of what happens later on)
You’re fine, I’m fine, everything is fine. Lets try and carry on as if nothing has happened. Only it isn’t fine. The norm is gonna get ripped out of the bourgeoise normality; Rampling has turned up again – and blown her brains out against their bedroom wall.
The 2nd half of the film careers dramatically into supernatural suspense thriller territory. The actors start losing the moorings of their characters. Understandable i suppose given what Charlottes done to them.
Laurent Lucas does what he did in Harry He’s Here to Help; slides from Mr Decent & Regular into Mr Shocked & Very Worried. If you want slack-jawed incredulity and sweaty panicky anguish – he’s your man. Charlotte Gainsbourg is good at being Mrs Calm & Phlegmatic in the first half; but running off and shagging Ramplings hubby doesn’t seem right or to fit her character.
And the lemming? Omen of self-destructive, displaced, desperate, vulnerability i guess. Nothing in your life ever goes according to plan. You never know. What might turn up next. It could be harmless. Or it could be very hurtful. Destroy you.
Lemming gets dumps in the bin at the end.
Superior suspense souffle is how i’d sum this film up.
Dir: Dominik Moll, France
6.5/10
