Wasp

I found this psychological drama rather captivating. Nothing great (no "must watch" here), but well acted and kept me engaged and interested. I was hoping for the female character to get stung since the beginning ...and found the ending rather rewarding. The "witch" had it coming!

James and Olivier are going to stay in Olivier's south of France country home for a romantic holiday. Caroline is a friend of James's and has just been dumped by her boyfriend and James being a thoroughly nice bloke – invites her along only quelle horreur she accepts!

Once they start to kill time enjoying themselves it soon becomes obvious that Caroline is having an effect on the pairs relationship and as the French summer slowly and languorously ebbs past so too the shifting emotions of the three start to change.

Now this is an independent film and the only characters are the three aforementioned ones. However, it does not suffer for it. It is well acted and filmed with only a few moments where I felt the scene added not very much or indeed went on a bit too long. That said the overall effect is of a confident and well made indie effort that actually does credit for all involved.

A beautiful and vast southern French setting, three beautiful young people, and a most comfortable french country house. Something bad is sure to happen. Suspicion and deceit eventually comes to the surface.

If you just leave a Wasp alone it won't sting you! But here in WASP James, Caroline, and Oliver are so driven to test and challenge each others mind eventually someone or all will feel the sting of this game and emotional pain is the only reward.

Director: Philippe Audi-Dor has created a beautiful film with only three actors, minimal dialog, and a stunning setting in the lazy warm summer days. What starts as a pleasure holiday becomes a test of temperament and self doubt. The interaction between these three is tense and spellbinding. The final scene holds such a powerful message. We see a room in the cottage, and through a very small window we see the three packing, leaving, not speaking and angry. In the grand vista of life they are each stuck in their own little world.

Tedious to watch. Beautiful scenery. Three is always a crowd when a couple is involved. Woman is judgemental, presumptuous and obnoxious. Behavior was appalling. Fresh out of a broken relationship, she assumes too much out of need as opposed to acting on genuine intuition, asserting herself in territory where she does not belong. She is so obviously frustrated sexually and dealing with pain, but stay out of other people's lives. James was well intentioned, but it was a mistake to invite her. Oliver is almost as bad as she is. The film is drawn out. It is like watching 3 30 year olds acting like 13.

This rather sluggish film more than makes up for its pretentious script by capturing the Luberon in all its summery glory. Every frame offers something pleasing to the eye, like a Bourdain travel piece without political commentary. Its sound is also technically sharp and appropriate, as in in one scene where characters play with watercolors as part of the plot.

Yes...the plot. More neurotic than erotic, if truth be told. It takes more than two-thirds of the film to get to the point, which is less cathartic than anticlimactic. It reminded me of a dozen or so short stories I have read over the years in which one or another love triangle drags along to its inevitable end, which can be either highly dramatic or cleverly understated. Boring.

These independent films always take too long, whether in single camera shots that linger on pointlessly or in spoken lines that the viewer can almost speak simultaneously as the character's lips move.

Pretty forgettable stuff, except for the landscape.