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Review

Tell No One – Movie Review

  • Directed by Guillame Canet
  • Starring Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, Marina Hands, Kristin Scott Thomas and Gilles Lellouche

Dr. Alex Beck (Cluzet) and his wife Margot (Croze ) are in the country for a getaway as the film opens, they skinny dip in the lake, relaxing by the water as night falls. They get into a mild squabble over his sister and her generally siding with her sister-in-law, so Margot leaves and heads back to the house.

Alex hears a commotion and heads for the shore when she calls out to him, but is struck by a baseball bat when he gets out of the water and knocked unconscious.

Skip to eight years hence, Alex is still unable to get over his Margot’s death, but has managed to maintain his practice and is drifting through his life, taking time each year to visit Margot’s parents on the anniversary of her death.

The discovery of two male bodies in the general area of his wife’s disappearance implicates Alex again in her murder, something he’d been suspected of and then cleared years earlier. Margot’s death was chalked up to the work of Frank Serton, a serial killer operating in the area at the time, but none of his victims were ever male, so these new bodies cast doubt on the situation. A ball bat was found with them and a key to a safety deposit box containing pictures of Margot looking as though she’d been beaten.

Alex is confused when he receives an anonymous e-mail containing a video clip that shows Margot alive, walking past a security camera. The message instructs him to ˜¦tell no one, they’re watching you’ or something equally cryptic.

Alex is questioned about possible spousal abuse, and flatly denies it, confused by the pictures and begins looking into things himself. He speaks to his sister Anne’s (Hands) wife, Hélane (Thomas), shows her the video and asks for her opinion. Alex also contacts an old friend of Margot’s, who recalls Margot looking beaten, but can’t corroborate her story of being in a car accident, which was her excuse at the time.

Margot’s friend (whose name escapes me, I apologize) is killed shortly after Alex’s visit by a mysterious group of thugs trying to strong arm her into telling them where Margot is, proving that Alex isn’t the only one who thinks she could still be alive.

Hélane secures a lawyer for Alex as things continue to look bad for him, and the larger conspiracy grows more sinister as he’s shadowed at every turn by both the mysterious thugs working for who the hell knows, as well as the police, who suspect he’s murdered Margot’s old friend. Alex eventually takes it on the run; reaching out to a criminal patient of his named Bruno (Lellouche), whose son he’d helped in the past and offered his services should he ever need them. With Bruno and his gang on his side, Alex gains a reprieve from police custody and a chance to prove his innocence, finding out once and for all if his beloved could still be alive.

This was a really well-constructed thriller, and I loved Francois Cluzet as Alex, he looks for all the world like a French Dustin Hoffman, very believable as the everyman out of his element in the given situation, I was very impressed. His run from the cops across a busy freeway is very tense and I really found myself rooting for him, especially once he hooked up with Bruno and his gang.

The film ties up the numerous loose ends very well and I was impressed that Canet was able to bring it all together in the end. From what I’ve read online since watching the film, the author of the source material even mentioned liking Canet’s ending better than his own, which is quite a compliment.

This is a great thriller, well worth a look; it’s got just enough action to keep your interest if the mystery seems to drag on a little too long. I’d definitely suggest checking this one out.

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About The Author

Kingmob

Kingmob has been spending his time writing online reviews for the better part of two years and has nothing but the ability to speak about himself in the 3rd person to show for it. This review and others like it can be found at Big Suck Loser and you can read about the daily minutiae that drives him slowly mad and informs his useless opinions of pop culture at his blog, Dear Bastards.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
  • Author: Kingmob
  • Filed Under: Film, Review
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

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