Rendez-vous fatal

"Rendez-vous fatal" is one of those films which are extremely difficult both to sum up and to review for the simple reason that they entirely rely on the effect of surprise. So, what can I reveal about this second part of the Pierre Alt trilogy (coming after "Douche froide" and before "Chambre 18")? Not much I am afraid, but at least this: like in the two other installments the scene is set in a hotel, the couple in the room is illegitimate and the atmosphere prevailing is uneasy. The rest is for you to discover, for saying more would boil down to just killing the film. On the other hand I can give this reviewer's opinion on something that will not spoil your pleasure: to the question "Does the element of surprise work?", I can answer yes, it does. And with one added value into the bargain: Pierre Alt's allusive sense. Like in the two other films of the trilogy (as well as in latest to-date, "112") the writer-director has the knack for leaving unexpressed bits of truth in the conclusion, thus appealing to the viewers' intelligence for completing the job. This way, we spectators are left to fill in the blanks, thus enhancing the pleasure felt at the final revelation. Moreover, the final twist always retaining a part of ambiguity, we are never dead certain that part of the reality presented does not escape us. All in all, "Rendez-vous fatal" is a fine little thriller in which Pierre Alt displays his many talents, as a writer (for the reasons expressed above), as an actor's director (the economy of Benoît Gourley's acting ; Edwige Baily in turns aggressively sexy and touchingly fragile), and as a technician ( depth of field effects and tilted angles in panic scenes, the dialectic of warm and cool colors, etc.). Well-made, intriguing and effective, "Rendez-vous fatal" has little running time to meet its intended specifications. But it does.