Film Reviews

Secret Things

• Rating:
• Director: Jean-Claude Brisseau.
• Starring: Coralie Revel, Sabrina Seyvecou, Roger Mirmont, Fabrice Deville.
• Details: France / 115 mins (18s).

Nathalie (Revel) is a stripper, Sandrine (Seyvecou) a barmaid, and together the dastardly French duo decide to swap their lowly positions in life by using sex as a lever to move them up through the social pecking order. Initially successful - quelle surprise, etc. - they set their sights higher, on Christophe (Deville), the son of a bank director. Unfortunately for the girls, Christophe is a practiced, ruthless manipulator of women, whose last two lovers set themselves on fire when he rejected them. Will Christophe manage to divide and conquer the girls? Or will they teach him a lesson he'll never forget? Twisted, sordid, sexy, brutal - pick your adjective, throw in a few more, and you still won't exhaust the litany that apply to Secret Things. At the heart of the tale lies the concept of control, and Brisseau teases out the implications of sex and emotional engagement in order to dissect the structure of society. Comparisons have been drawn with Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, particularly given the decadent orgies Christophe indulges in, but this is a much darker affair that exposes not only the squalid peccadilloes of the rich and privileged, but also how fragile the veneer of respectable society really is. Excellent performances, especially from Deville as the intense but emotionally hollow voyeur, lend this a gritty authenticity that results in compelling viewing. Just don't bring your favourite aunt.

Review by Declan Burke