The mysterious disappearance of a woman is told as a puzzle with a surprising final twist.
What is the plot?
In a village in France, during the winter, a woman named Evelyn mysteriously disappears, her car appears in the middle of the road. The villagers know little about her, her husband is always travelling. Three villagers, Alice, Joseph and Michel. A girl from the town named Marion and a young man from Africa, Armand, will be part of this network of situations that will be directly related to the woman's disappearance. We will know the life of each of these characters, the way they are involved in that disappearance and their dark secrets.
The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same title, by French writer Colin Niel. I haven't read the book, but according to those who have read the novel, the film is a faithful adaptation, especially dividing the film into five chapters, each focusing on the five characters involved in the disappearance of the woman.
It is a puzzle that will be completed in each segment of the film, the characters that may seem suspicious at first, may have nothing to do with the disappearance. Perhaps the one least expected is the culprit. Nothing is what it seems to be in this story.
Each part dedicated to one of the characters will provide new clues and elements that relate to the other characters. There are several narrative turns that make the story interesting, we will feel the need to know how everything fits together. What happened with Evelyn? How is the young man from Africa involved? We will not stop being surprised by the new information they give us, but in the end everything will make sense, everything is related and they will give us one last final twist.
How does something that a young person from a country located in another continent triggers a series of catastrophes? The film plays with the ideas of the butterfly effect and the six degrees of separation, using a group of characters with something in common, the emotional emptiness that each one suffers. Everything they do is motivated by love and desire. You may think that Armand is not, but in reality he is motivated by the desire to have money and get out of misery.
I cannot tell you more about the plot, the less we know about the story, the more we will enjoy watching it.
The negative point, in my opinion, is that the segment dedicated to Armand becomes a bit long. We have to understand the life of this young man, who is dedicated to defrauding the unwary on the Internet. But I think he has several minutes to spare. Besides, the change of location is abrupt. The interest in knowing how this boy relates to the disappearance of the woman remains, but the scenes at the disco with his friends, the meeting with his son and his ex-girlfriend, who has a daddy who gives him everything, was a bit tedious.
Although the two main locations are a rural village in France and an African city, the use of modern technology is of vital importance in the story. Internet, dating sites, social networks and chat are the tools used by one of the characters to build a scam that will have unimaginable consequences.
The French filmmaker, of German origin, Dominik Moll is in charge of directing this film adaptation of a successful novel. The filmmaker has among his previous works, several films, highlighting Le Moine with the great Vincent Cassel. The films Lemmin and Harry, a friend who sees you well He also has experience in television, he was the director of the episodes of the successful series El Túnel and more recently in the mini-series Eden.
I liked the whole cast of the film, each of the actors selected to bring the characters to life, they convey the emotional state very well. Convincing performances that give credibility to all those strange coincidences that link them to the disappearance. Damien Bonnard is the actor who plays Joseph, the lonely farmer, isolated on his farm since the death of his mother. At first sight, he is one of the main suspects because of his strange behavior. This actor is emerging as one of the future great French actors. I saw him in "Les Misérables", which I reviewed a few months ago. The story of his character has one of the most shocking twists of the film.
Laura Calamy plays Alice Farange, indirectly involved in Evelyn's disappearance, she also has an emotional void, her marriage seems to be going badly and she is in love with Joseph. The actress has participated in numerous films and is well known in France. She was nominated for a Cesar award for this film. The character of Michel Farange, Alice's husband, is played by the actor Denis Menochet, very well known in France, he has also participated in Hollywood productions, if you look at his face, you will recognize him from Quentin Tarantino's film Inglorious Bastard, he is the character that resembles the beginning of the film, the peasant who visits Hans Landa.
The 24-year-old actress, Nadia Tereszkiewicz, plays Marion, the character who is directly related to Evelyn. Marion is in love, she sees in Evelyn the person who can give her the happiness she wants so much. The actress received the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo Film Festival 2019 for her performance in this film. And finally, the filmmaker and actress Valeria Bruni Tedeschi is in charge of playing Evelyn, the missing woman, the woman who joins all the other characters' stories. The woman who will be the victim of a confusion with dire consequences. She is an important character, who also keeps a secret, which we will discover in the middle of the film.
I thought it was a remarkable film, entertaining, well filmed and with excellent performances. I'm happy to come across French thrillers, it's a genre I like very much and in that country intriguing films go very well. Although the final twist seemed too much of a coincidence to me, it brings irony to the story.
A totally recommendable film.
My Ranking: 3/5
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