Review: Under the Sand

Not Rated | 92 mins

Eager to see this because of my many hypotheses about the work of French filmmaker Francois Ozon, I rented Under the Sand expecting that it would be as vibrant and colorfully cheerful as 8 Women, one of the two other films from the director that I’d seen before. While this picture has almost no similarities with that one, it’s certainly fabulous in its own individual way. This movie plays out like a noir, but has a different style than one would expect. Ozon clearly has a knack for this type of material; low key mysteries, with multi-dimensional twists added in are his specialty. Charlotte Rampling’s character, Marie, has one of the most interesting personalities of the decade, and is the movie. She’s bottled-up and intriguing, infested with her hard-nosed shyness from all vulnerability. The cinematography, by Antoine Héberlé and Jeanne Lapoirie, allows the entire film to entrance you into an unexplainable spell and leave you captivated for the entire duration. I personally, cannot wait to see Ozon’s latest effort, Swimming Pool.