The Bridesmaid

Adapted from a Ruth Rendell novel, The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle d'honneur) is a psychological crime thriller from veteran French director Chabrol. Philippe (Magimel) meets Senta (Smet) at his sister's wedding and is instantly smitten by her sultry looks and the almost obligatory steamy sex that ensues. Unfortunately, things start to go ever-so-slightly awry when Senta demands that Philippe prove his love for her by murdering a stranger. Existentialist French chicks, eh?

There's very little to complain about here: the performances are strong, although Senta's hysterical demands aren't entirely convincing, and Chabrol is wily enough as a director to sustain a minor strand of spookiness that centres on a missing girl and a statue belonging to Philippe's mother (Clement) that bears an uncanny resemblance to Senta. Indeed, Chabrol might well be too clever for his own good. The bonkers femme fatale is a standard element in film noir, and the director plays Senta's role so straight that you presume all along he has a twist up his sleeve that will subvert the genre conventions. That he doesn't mangle audience expectations suggests he's more concerned here with creating a homage to classic noir; if so, The Bridesmaid is an adroitly executed but uninspired addition to his canon of work.