I got gripped by this quite original film from the start. The plot is well crafted, acting is fine, the tempo, relentless. I did feel fear and connected with the characters, unlike many movies considered "better ones".
Nathalie Nell is Maud Levreau, the heart and brains of the story. She is not perfect, but comes really close. She holds the "threads of the cobweb", like when she's the only one that realizes that Sylvianne is the key to her son's healing, or the way she communicates with her future daughter-in-law, unlike her husband, who only attacks in a straightforward way, thus getting nothing.
Anne Malraux as the suffering daughter "Sylvianne" is the image of a victim. Beautiful (as it should be in the genre) but also clumsy and limited in her awareness of "the big picture". She just had the gift, one gift. She's got a couple of good phrases, thou. Like after the first night of newlyweds, or afterwards to
Her mum Maryse is also wise. When she is helping her daughter choose her wardrobe, while Sylvianne can't decide she says: "He has to like you, not the clothes". Same for when she finally avows she doesn't believe in voyants, etc. OK, she's a codependent personality (drink, escrocs), but at least she knows she's being duped. Her man has the wisdom of the streets. When he accompanies Sylvianne to follow Patrice to the whore's, and he tries to minimize it. A true father figure.
The scene of the meeting of Patrice's posh parents with their future daughter in law is perfect, it shows the "clashing of cultures". Maud understood or tried to understand his son: "I understand you try to help her, her life must be very hard". Whereas her dad burst with anger: "You can help her, but why marry her!". They have a rather good marriage, it's moving that being a couple for quite a few years, he seems sincere when replies: "Everything looks fine on you". I liked his father's quip as they leave the "wedding party": "Le divorce, ca existe" :). I also liked how everybody prepared for the meeting focusing on the wardrobe, while at the end what matters are the people involved...
I never understood Patrice's character very much, he seemed, paradoxically, perpetually lost, sick, out of touch with reality, like drugged. L'inconnue is truly mysterious, but I guess the context and clothes helped. Le gendarme is the only "no nonsense" character in the film, quite alone :).
Overall, it definitely entertains!
