The influence of Henri-Georges Clouzot and Claude Chabrol pervades this thriller from sophomore director, Moll. Harry (Lopez) sets about liberating Michel (Lucas) from the domestic shackles he thinks are curtailing his literary genius. But is Harry just a scarcely remembered schoolfriend with a bizarre sense of charity, or is he the projection of a stifled mind?
Harry’s motives are left open to interpretation, both by Moll’s ambiguous direction and the restrained performance from the viciously sincere Laurent Lucas.
If Seigner’s worldly wife and Guillemin’s earthy bimbo had been as adroitly delineated, this might have been top drawer. As it is, with dark humour complementing the casual efficiency of Harry’s crimes, it’s still an unsettling study of the modern male psyche.