Star rating: ** Dir: Eric Barbier With: Yvan Attal, Clovis Cornillac
Another handsome thriller from the nation that brought you Tell No One, one of the sleeper hits of 2007. Though set in France, Eric Barbier's tale comes from Plender, a novel by Manchester-born Ted (Get Carter) Lewis. There's an authentic British grit about the story of a thug (Clovis Cornillac) who sends a young female con artist on dates with rich men, photographs them in flagrante, then blackmails the married victims. Vincent (Yvan Attal), an old acquaintance from schooldays who has landed a wealthy wife, seems a promising target. As the scheming Plender snakes his way into Vincent's life again it becomes clear this tussle is personal and it will take more than money to settle the score.
The Serpent starts promisingly, its plot twisting and turning at a terrific lick. Barbier goes all out to keep viewers on their toes, but he ends up overdoing it, frenetically setting up situations only to pick them apart again a moment later. From the midway point there's only one way events are heading and Barbier would have had a better picture if he had tried to get there sooner.
Not as slick as Guillame Canet's Tell No One, though still worth a look.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Sep 14-27
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