Disorder

I was very surprised at this movie. The IMDb precis led me to think it was going to be an average action thriller so I watched it to fill in a dull couple of hours, but what a treat it turned out to be.

Definitely not for the Hollywood action fan, this movie is an incredibly well-paced (read: slow burn) psychological study and suspense builder. I found a lot of it reminiscent of a great Hitchcock, who was, after all, the master of building true suspense out of the ominously suggested but mainly unseen.

Matthias Schoenaerts is absolutely brilliant. His portrayal of a damaged, sometimes paranoid, drug-dependent, PTSD-suffering soldier trying to carry out a fill-in assignment on a private security detail is a masterpiece of characterisation. The directing is superb and had me watching in delight throughout the film's entirety. The whole recipe is topped off by cinematography that is so ideally matched to the mood(s) of the film, perfectly complimenting the atmospheric, slow-building story. No, we don't get to know the whole of Vincent's character during this movie, but when have you ever got to know someone well after spending a mere two hours with them? We learn what we need to to engage in the movie and that is just the right amount.

Some reviewers will bemoan the lack of a full background story, dearth of explosions and other typically Hollywood special effects, the dark settings and minimal dialogue. In my opinion that only illustrates that they entirely miss the point and magic of this beautifully made film and I suggest they go and rent a brash, loud, brain-dead, exaggerated Hollywood action explosion-fest.

Disorder (2015)

Alice Winocour's thriller set in upper class France is filled with anxiety, and is filmed very smartly to increase that stress without resorting to pyrotechnics. Quietly, especially because of the edgy psychological performance by Matthias Schoenaerts, we feel the anxiety of an ex-soldier fighting PTSD and still doing private high brow security work.

The setting is interesting but the plot is thin. This can work for the film, which depends on lots of quiet moments to punch up the drama when it occurs. The direction is really good, with some simple strategies at play. Example—when our main character, who is guarding someone off in the distance, is sensing danger, his eyes flit around, he stiffens up and walks and look, but the one thing the camera doesn't do is show us the person he's protecting. In the dark, we worry, and we don't know if the danger is real or if he's just too high strung.

Seeing the inside of a high level security detail is nice, and it's handled with good realism. The whole movie, in fact, depends on a simple believability that typical Hollywood versions would ramp up, and it works.

The big downside here is the writing. There isn't enough to the overall plot after all (and Schoenaerts can't do everything). And some of the dialog is unlikely or a big out off kilter. Sucked into the mis-en-scene, you can go with it, at least until the long stretch at the end in the house, when you do wish it hadn't trapped itself into a series of well worn ideas.

The last several seconds of the movie do show that the director/writer is capable of more than you'll find here. It might be unexplained, but it leaves at least still immersed as you leave the film's finely rendered world.

I was not sure what to expect with this. But I was definitely intrigued with the two leads, Matthias Schnoenarts and Diane Kruger.

I like a lot of the films that they star in. So it will be interesting to see what their chemistry is on screen.

The premise was definitely one I do not see that often. Also, the story that director and writer Alice Winocaur had put onto screen got me invested. But despite me still finding it reasonably enjoyable, I felt that we have a missed opportunity here.

One thing is for sure, Schoenaerts was great as our main character. A bit like Tom Hardy, most of his success comes from the physical part of the performance. You can really see the killer instinct in his character and his charisma definitely carries this film well. I was feeling his characters problems and I was rooting for him to overcome them. I think without Schoenarts, this could have been something quite boring. The rest of the cast were not that memorable, even Kruger.

For the few action scenes that were on screen, they were really well constructed. You could really feel the hits being taken. The score was fascinating and surprisingly atmospheric. The style felt different, but managed to fit in well with the film. However, there were some moments where I felt the moment to use that score felt unnecessary or badly timed.

Like I said before, there are problems with it. While it may feel slow for the most part, you can feel the tension throughout. You do feel that something does not feel right and we get some well executed action scenes. But I think in the end, the lack of drama and thrills may make people impatient as they know this could go down more interesting routes. I don't get a lot of the slow no-dialogue moments that we seem to see with most of European cinema. It's not often that style gets me totally invested. I was not a fan of the camera-work as well. There was a lot of shaky moments that I felt were unnecessary, and it made me struggle to see what was going on. This negative is a bit of nit pick. But I felt there were too many times when they were reminding us of our main characters anxiety problems. That just seemed to signal to me that they have little more to show and just lingered on that particular part.

For what looked like an interesting premise, for me it did not manage to make the most of it. But don't worry, it still remains to be a solidly delivered thriller with an amazing lead by Schoenarts. The way they portrayed his characters problems on screen was quite clever. I also liked it did not have that cliché feeling at all, and that might be the reason that I remained interested. Despite its problems, I will still recommend this. Winocour should be proud of this. I will definitely check out the rest of her work.

Rating: 7/10

Disorder is a great but slow paced thriller that's tense, moving and stylish whilst also skillfully withholding answers. Matthias Schoenaerts gives an incredible lead performance and Diane Kruger is great. Alice Winocour's direction is fantastic, especially the quiet but impactful ending and it's extremely well filmed. The music by Gesaffelstein is really good.

Matthias Schoenaerts plays Vincent, a soldier who has returned from Afghanistan and is now suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He is signed off from duties and so gets to work as a hired security guard. One of his friends gets him a gig working for a wealthy, but decidedly shady, Lebanese businessman.

Once there he becomes enamoured with his very attractive wife (Diane Kruger) and ends up being assigned to watch over her as a personal bodyguard. He is still dealing with PTSD and the effects of having served as Special Forces and so is on edge and sees danger where it may not be. However, he soon feels that she and her son are under threat and then – well it all kicks off but to say anymore would be a plot spoiler.

Now the part of Vincent was written with Schoenaerts in mind and he does a very good job indeed (I have PTSD so could spot some of the subtleties) but the tension and atmosphere that is engendered at the beginning then starts to fade as the plot reveals itself. The story is fairly good though and the ending may bemuse some but the overall journey is one that is worth the effort. In French with good sub titles this will appeal to lovers of thrillers but it is not one that is too taxing on the intellect.