Review of Tell No One (2006) by Steven N — 05 Apr 2009

"Tell No One" is an extremely smart, well acted, very tense, tightly layered piece of filmmaking. This French films tells the story of a doctor whose wife is murdered one afternoon while skinny dipping with him at a nearby lake.

Eight years later he receives an odd email containing an even odder video, leading to a multi-layered mystery that needs to be unraveled. The absolute best thing the movie has going for it is its surprising, well written, script.

There are twists, and turns, and zig-zags galore, and for the most part all of them work. Nothing feels forced, or faked here, and in these kind of mystery films that's a pretty uncommon thing. The performances are solid from top to bottom, and director Guillaume Canet really seems to know where to put his camera, and what needs to be shown without ever giving too much away.

If the movie is lacking anything, it's a wee bit of heart. While there are attempts made, they aren't completely successful. Still, this is a small gripe. Overall, "Tell No One" gets a very high recommendation from me.

Generally I'm not a fan of these kinds of films, but this movie shows how very good thy can be when done right.