There’s something for everyone in this film, and not just because subversive French director François Ozon is a master at shifting tone from comedy, absurdist farce, high drama, psychological thriller to finely judged satire on bourgeois life. There are transvestites, flirtations with homosexuality, some general gender confusions, and some odd goings on in a mortuary.
Loosely based on a Ruth Rendell short story, we see the longings and suppressed desires of the two central characters Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) and David (Romain Duris) collide with a perfectly ordered affluent lifestyle to produce some chaotic results. Just when you think you know where it’s going, the plot takes another turn, much like the characters in the film who engage in all sorts of gender and sexual confusions.
It’s fun and funny to watch, held together by the fantastic performances of the two leads, but even more fun to discuss afterwards. Opinions were as diverse as the film, but it kept us talking in the Arthouse cafe for hours afterwards.
