SCRIBE

OUT 21 JULY / CERT 15 / 91 MINS DIRECTOR Thomas Kruithof CAST françois Cluzet, Denis Podalydès, Sami Bouajila, Alba Rohrwacher

TWO YEARS AFTER suffering an alcoholic burnout, unemployed accountant Duval (Cluzet) gratefully accepts a job transcribing surveillance tapes. from there, he’s drawn into a sinister conspiracy involving the french presidential election and an African hostage crisis. while the storyline exploits the odd contrivance, Kruithof’s control over the look and feel of the picture is exemplary, drawing Cluzet into territory so full of oblique angles and devoid of colour that it recalls a 1940s monochrome noir. Assiduously controlled and impeccably played, this cunning thriller keeps both the protagonist and the viewer guessing until the slickly cynical climax, but lacks the thematic and dramatic depth to unsettle as it should.