Instinto maternal

This very well-made, very well-acted little thriller is reminiscent of Brian De Palma at his prime, except it's less flashy and more psychologically sound. Olivier Masset Depasse successfully maintains the ambiguity around Alice (is she losing her grip on reality, or is she sensing the truth?), and the ending is unexpectedly bleak and disturbing. This movie sends you out a little shaken. *** out of 4.

When a mother loses a young child after a fatal accident, the first thing she does is reproach herself. Céline, one of the two leads in 'Duelles', is no exception. Why did she leave her son alone in a room with an open window? Why hasn't she been more careful? But in this case, she also reproaches her neighbour Alice. She thinks Alice could have prevented the accident. The two neighbours, who are also close friends, start to distrust each other and soon things are getting out of hand.

'Duelles' is a very effective psychological thriller, cleverly creating doubt in the minds of the audience. Alice thinks Céline somehow wants to take revenge. But isn't she imagining things? At one point, even her husband starts thinking she is going nuts. Is she right or is she wrong? Until the very end, the viewer remains in doubt. But when the answer finally comes, it is extremely spectacular.

The very clever screenplay is the outstanding feature of this Belgian film. But it is not the only one. The acting by the two leading ladies is excellent. Both switch from being self-assured and even glamorous to vulnerable and heart-broken. The period setting is another nice feature of this film. It is set in the early sixties, with a lot of attention to details. House decoration, clothing, hairdo's and cars: everything is a joy to watch. The lush cinematography accentuates it all. And the icing on the cake is the exceptionally effective soundtrack, which is perfect in supporting the increasing feeling of unease.

This is a very beautiful film to look at, which keeps you permanently on the edge of your seat. It deserves a large audience. To be honest, I was surprised by the relatively low IMDb-rating and the small number of reviews. I can only recommend it.

In the 60s, two families live in two terraced houses in the upper-crust Brussels suburbs. A kind of a dolce vita in Belgium. Consecutively to a tragic accident, the film flips all of a sudden, and the atmosphere becomes desperately angsty with a vertiginous spiral towards the depths of the abyss: loss of confidence, need of revenge, paranoia and tutti quanti. The main character is Alice played by the delicious Veerle Baetens already seen in The Broken Circle Breakdown (Felix van Groeningen, 2012) and the manifold plot twists are focused on this specific character.

The cast is excellent, especially the 2 main actresses Veerle Baetens and Anne Coesens, without forgetting the child Jules Lefebvre. The sets are very realistic. Photography is neat and the sense of detail is boosted to the extreme, up to the hairstyles.

After a tragic accident shatters the friendly alliance between two neighbours, they start harassing each other to find out who really was responsible for what happened. While the audience at first thinks it was a perfectly banal accident, their doubt is being fuelled scene after scene...

Veerle Baetens' en Anne Coessens' performances are filled with subtle mistrust and held-back anger. These two characters playing off each other are a true feast for the spectators. Also the young Jules Lefebre acts with a maturity beyond his years. The cinematography by Hichame Alaouie is effective and - even though the pace at times threatens to slow down a bit too much - keeps every scene interesting and fresh: playing with angles, lighting and other effects to signify the slow descent into madness. Olivier Masset-Depasses' direction is clean, whilst never sinking into blandness.

However, the omnipresent score is overblown and lacks subtlety, but regularly does capture the right atmosphere for the scene. The story after a while threatens to loose its own point, but regains its footing again in the finale. And what a chilling finale that was! One last nit-picking comment can be that the film could have raised uncertainty and suspicion even more than it in fact did.

Finally, one cannot ignore the not-so-subtle hints to Hitchcock's work in the production design, costumes and building of tension. It's expertly done and - in my humble opinion - this movie is perfectly capable of standing between great names such as 'Rear Window' and 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. A shame it only came out in 2018, because back in the 60's, it would have perplexed it's audiences. It's not without drawbacks, but then again... which one of Hitchcock wasn't?

Alice (Veerle Baetens) and Céline (Anne Coesens) are neighbors, best friends and their families spend all their time together. However, when a terrible tragedy hits their lives, their relationship changes significantly and they both start to question everything that kept them together.

Watching alternately the American version of 2024 and the Franco-Belgian version of 2018, a very similar remake, with some small changes, but a powerful and controversial drama, which tries to confuse us until its final act of destruction... I notice a slight preference for the original in its poetic and tearful final scene, and in small contexts that seem more plausible, while the second one tries to justify the facts (unnecessarily)... Excellent adapted production...