Suspicions (Jaloux)

The plot may sound familiar – young couple want to spend some romantic time in a cabin in the woods, only to be disturbed by a man with a shotgun – but writer-director Patrick Demers’ film Suspicions (Jaloux)  is a triumph in terms of structure and subtle chills.

It is a film that begins innocently and straightforwardly enough, but then sucks the viewer into the darker aspects of the story as the drama slowly and chillingly develops.

Thomas and Marie (Maxime Denommee and Sophie Cadieux) are a bickering couple trying to get their relationship back on track, and who are surprised to find a charming and enigmatic man in the cottage they are borrowing for the weekend. The non-linear narrative structure means that the viewer has to piece together the events of their weekend as the couple’s ordered life if turned upside down.

Writer-director Patrick Demers does an excellent job in crafting a nicely complex tale and keeping the tension racked up throughout the film, with Thomas and Marie’s life turned upside down as the reality of their situation is gradually revealed.The film had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Tobie Marier Robitaille’s cinematography superbly highlights the inhospitable forest locations and the editing – by Demers as well – works perfectly with the cleverly crafted structure. It is a film that begins innocently and straightforwardly enough, but then sucks the viewer into the darker aspects of the story as the drama slowly and chillingly develops.