Un jeu d'enfants
2001 Fantasy / Horror / Thriller
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Credits
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Summary
Marianne and Jacques are a young middle-class couple who live in a chic Parisian apartment
with their two young children. One day, Marianne receives an unexpected visit from
two strangers, Mr and Mrs Worms, who claim to have lived in the apartment when they were
children and who ask if they can just take a look around their former home. Marianne agrees,
but no sooner have the mysterious Worms left than things take an inexplicable turn for
the worse. The two children appear to be behaving very oddly, Marianne is cautioned
for shop-lifting, and Jacques has a nervous breakdown after assaulting one of his colleagues
at work. And there is worse to come. Marianne suspects that their apartment
is the cause of their bad luck and soon discovers that it has a tragic history...
Review
One of the better class of psychological thriller in recent years, Un jeu d'enfants
is a gripping yet quite disturbing tale of obsession and delusion. After
a cleverly ambiguous beginning, it soon becomes clear that the film is being presented
from the distorted perspective of a stressed-out married couple, so that implausible and
irrational events take on a terrifying sense of realism, locking the viewing in a nightmare
world from which there is no escape.
Strong performances from lead actors Karin Viard and Charles Berling lend the story credibility which it might otherwise lack, whilst the excellent photography contrasts, with great effect, the banality of everyday life with the chilling horror of mounting paranoia. © James Travers 2001 Write a review for this film... |
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