Pretend I'm Not Here

The 400 Blows meets Rear Window in this low-key French thriller directed by Olivier Jahan. Suffering because of the death of his father and the emotional distance of his mother, high-school student Eric (Jeremie Renier) kills time by obsessively spying on his neighbors. Compulsively taking notes on everything within binocular range from his bedroom window, he harasses his neighbors by sending unsigned notes and making their private affairs public. The tables turn when one of his prey, a young couple, Tom (Sami Bouajila) and Fabienne (Alexia Stresi), figure out the identity of their anonymous tormentor. Meanwhile, Eric is slowly driving his mother and stepfather crazy with his weird, insular activity, and he can't stand his sister Carol's (Natalie Richard) newfound happiness with her beau Simon (Pierre Berriau). This look into the mind of a future serial killer was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide