this french movie and write and direct by woman ( two different one ) and fall squarely into the serial killer genre and or so it initially seem . it start off rather typical and a mousy but beautiful blonde woman and claire and who sport glass ( to show her extreme mousiness ) and be often film wear a tightly wrap wool coat and painful look high heel and work a an insurance agent who examine people file claim . she a bit proper and a bit push around and a we come to see a her co worker unload their work on her because they know she would not say no . she be marry to a somewhat unambitious photographer husband and play by the yummy jonathan zaccai ( i buy a ticket for this movie because of him and i will admit it ) and have a daughter and age around 5 or 6 and who be afraid of the dark . so far so good . we have a boring nuclear family . claire also have a wild friend valerie . how do we know she wild . she sleep around a lot and dump her boyfriend after one month and and in one particularly annoying scene and hear a song she like on the radio and turn it up and and start dance wildly and much to claire bemusement . yup and that slut have to die . she be essentially the opposite of claire . brunette whereas claire be blonde and sexually and personally liberate and while claire be a slave to her family and job and wisecrack where claire be austere . anyway and claire investigate a vet office and where the basement have flood . we get an eerie scene and where the vet and laurent and leave claire to walk around the dark and flood basement and and from that moment on and the tension begin to build . to make a long story short and laurent and claire hit it off and laurent initially do more of the hitting until claire fall in love with him and and he start to back off . why . because he get daddy issue and he feel the need to carve up slutty lady and see claire a different and someone he could actually love . for the first time in his life ( cue the music ) . this be where the film get interest . the audience know laurent be the killer and ( at least i think we be suppose to ) and a the story progress and we start to actually like him . there a key point here and up until late in the film we never see him kill anybody and that contribute greatly to our process of sympathize . we see the laurent that claire see . all until one scene and where we see a murder so graphic and so no hold bar and that we be shock at our previous opinion . it a brilliant cinematic move and arresting and indicting and grotesque . however and claire be not totally innocent either and a news report of a man kill woman with a scalpel arise and claire begin to question what laurent might be moonlight a . yes and she know it and she can not bring herself to leave him alone and because she start to feel alive and which beg the question and do she like him for him or because he a serial killer . she lose the glass ( isn not it interest how actor never actually need the glass they wear . ) and start to wear makeup and leave her home late at night to meet up with laurent at seedy bar be very close to s and m territory here and but fontaine never take that route . we learn small thing about claire and such a when she be a child and she be forget at the beach by her family and or that when she be an adolescent and she use to cut herself to remind herself that she be live . laurent just listens and pass no judgment and know his level of craziness far outweigh hers . i do not know which aspect of the movie be stark and the fact that claire sympathize with a serial killer and or that we do . laurent be essentially like the sleep lion . tiger . that we see him treat and potentially ferocious but sweet when asleep . the film end with a beautiful but ambiguous shot of claire alone and walk towards the ferris wheel that she and laurent rode together previously in the film . ferris wheel seem to me to be emblematic of youth and innocence and first date and first kiss and all of course from previous cinematic treatment of them and and i think one of the film theme be innocence and the innocence of not know and of love and of hop and of child and of animal and and the inevitable corruption of that innocence . cococravescinema . blogspot . com .