Lemming Review
The title Lemming smartly encapsulates the themes of this twisty French psychological thriller, but it can't claim the same metaphorical symbolism for the film's role in the greater cinematic landscape. In other words, as psychological thrillers go, Lemming is no blind follower. Dominik_Moll's first project since With a Friend Like Harry... has a startlingly original creepiness to its design, while still retaining a familiar narrative framework. Perhaps in part because both films feature the haunting Charlotte_Rampling, Lemming exists in the same geographical and thematic space as François_Ozon's The_Swimming_Pool, where normal domesticity devolves into something much more sinister for the protagonists. But Lemming is a more specific and involving experience by virtue of Moll's unique usage of genre tropes -- an eerie sound effect here, a vacant stare by Charlotte_Gainsbourg there. In fact, both Charlottes are utterly disquieting in this tale of the unexpectedly intimate relationship between two French couples -- the boss, his wife, his underling, and the underling's wife. It's impossible to know from the opening frames where this relationship will go, and that makes for an exquisitely tense experience of discovery. Moll always keeps alive a second layer of possible interpretation, meaning that nothing is truly explicit. Yet what happens is accessible enough that viewers won't be alienated by its lack of certainty -- in other words, it never crosses over into David_Lynch territory. Still, Lynch fans should find the mood Moll creates plenty to their liking. Though all the actors are quite effective, Laurent_Lucas connects most as the audience's surrogate, struggling to make sense of occurrences that are just plain nonsensical -- with that lemming in the drain pipe serving as a perfect harbinger of what's to come. Derek Armstrong, Rovi
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