THE BLUE ROOM

You have to credit Matthieu Amalric, he not only stars in this film but also directs it - and what a feat of directing it is. The atmosphere created in ‘The Blue Room’ is tense, right from the beginning. Long scenes of very little action perform two duties; not only do they draw out the tension of the scenes and imbibe them with nuance, it also serves to slow the pace of the film. Now a slow pace is often a negative about a movie, especially a “thriller”, but in this context it gives you a small moment of respite to consolidate your thoughts and piece together parts of this very shattered puzzle.

You can certainly tell Amalric is an actor first and foremost. His performance is compelling to say the least. His directorial choice to have the longer scenes and shots are another testament to this allowing all the actors to breathe and explore their roles and relationships. It's only a little over an hour in length but it certainly feels like more, once again not a bad thing. This is because you as an audience are given so much room to question – and question you do. There is so much left unsaid, so much left unseen that you really are clutching at straws to figure it all out. Is he just a high-functioning sociopath? Is she a manipulative mastermind? The questions are never properly answered, leaving you to do your best to answer them – each piece of evidence contradicting the next.

‘The Blue Room’ is an engaging thriller that will keep you on your toes through out and guessing until the end. Actually it will keep you guessing until long after; there is a “verdict” passed, but even long after you are left wondering... Was the verdict actually fair? If someone can tell me that would be great, but until then I’ll be over here scratching my head and scrambling with the pieces!