Our take
In my own wished-for parallel universe, French actors Vincent Cassell and Emanuelle Devos are voted the sexiest actors alive. I find them both transfixing and appealing in every role they’ve performed, and they are quite the pair here. Devos plays Carla, a put-upon assistant at a property management company. While good at her job, there is little room for her to advance her career, as she is one of the only women at her company and also has a hearing deficiency. Into her humdrum life walks ex-convict Paul (Cassell), who Carla hires as a personal assistant. It turns out that what Paul lacks in secretarial skills he makes up for in other ways. The first half of the film plays almost like a dark workplace comedy, before taking a dangerous turn towards psychological crime thriller. Overall, it’s a dark and sexy character study of two mismatched outsiders who turn out to complement each other perfectly.
What it won
Berlin
1 nom
European Film Awards
4 noms
César Awards
3 wins · 6 noms
The story
She is almost deaf and she lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.
Elsewhere
"Emmanuelle Devos, veteran of a number of relationship dramas directed by Arnaud Desplechin, is terrific in subtly impressing on us Carla's outsider status."
— Richard Falcon
Who picked it
Tara Goe is a contributing writer at A Good Movie to Watch, reviewing films and shows across the major streaming services. Her work helps readers find overlooked titles worth their time.
