Old-Fashioned Thriller From Yann Gozlan Has Much To Like But Disappoints in the End

Yann Gozlan’s “Visions” is an old fashioned thriller, a sumptuous throwback to mid-century glamour and psychological melodrama keyed to a saturated color palette. “Hitchcockian” is a term typically employed to narratives rife with duplicity and murder, and it’s applicable here, though the Master of Suspense wouldn’t have dawdled quite as much as Mr. Gozlan does in maintaining mood and mystery.In that regard, “Visions” brings to mind slow-burn puzzlements like Michelangelo Antonioni’s “L’Avventura” (1960) and Lee Chang Dong’s “Burning” (2018). Is this another way of saying Mr. Gozlan’s picture is a tried-and-true endeavor bedecked with art house embellishments? Absolument, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.Besides, some of those embellishments are good to look at, not least Antoine Sanier’s cinematography, which navigates the dusky sonorities of late night rendezvous as adeptly as it does the sobering light of the Mediterranean sun. There’s the movie’s star, Diane Kruger, a former model whom American audiences may recall from Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy” (2004) and Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (2009). She’s sleek, sinewy, and very much in line with noir doyennes like Gloria Grahaeme and Jane Grear.The rest of the players also cast a spell. The Spanish actress Marta Nieto is on hand as a femme fatale whose charms are hard to resist and, in a smaller role, the multilingual Amira Casar is a blue chip art dealer who doesn’t brook any nonsense.Let’s not forget the male of the species: Matthieu Kassovitz is Parisian by birth and international by trade, being an actor, screenwriter and director who’s been in fare as varied as Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Amelie” (2001) and Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” (2005). In “Visions,” he cuts an appealingly gruff figure.The last time we heard from Mr. Gozlan was with 2022’s “The Black Box,” a swift and assured effort whose cinematic niceties didn’t altogether redeem its conventionality. The same is true of “Visions”: Mr. Gozlan tends to falter when wrapping things up. When a story relies on a twist ending, the twist had better be worthy of O. Henry or M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense” (1999). That is to say, it should be head-snapping, jaw-dropping, and pleasure-inducing.Ms. Kruger is Estelle, an airline pilot with a career she loves, an adoring husband, a spacious manse in France, and, alas, no children. She and Guillaume (Mr. Kassovitz) are doing their damnedest to right the course, using medication, sundry apps, and arranging what free time they have in their regimented schedules to strike when the iron is hot. It helps that Guillame is an MD, and has access to the best health care. But how much access does he have to Estelle’s heart?Diane Kruger and Matthieu Kassovitz in ‘Visions.’ Via Dark Sky FilmsNot as much as Estelle might like to let on, particularly when she bumps into an old flame. Ana (Ms. Nieto) is an internationally renowned photographer who ended their relationship decades back under the messiest of circumstances. Estelle’s passion nonetheless remains undiminished. A casual reacquaintance turns into a not-so-casual affair. Things get steamy and life becomes complicated.Estelle’s sense of duty to Guillame can’t quash the need for Ana’s company or a series of distressing hallucinations. Marriage and mental health aren’t the only of Estelle’s responsibilities that are beginning to suffer. The logistics behind the affair with Ana are troubling her sleep, and Estelle starts to falter at the job. Her diminishing ability to concentrate results in a near catastrophic event while on the job. A pilot suffering from erotomania is something to worry about.The lone aspect of Mr. Gozlan’s picture that is decidedly contemporary is the same-sex relationship at its core, another facet of, as the scribes at Cosmopolitan have it, our “lesbian pop culture boom.” Whether the romantic triangle that spurs the tension in “Visions” is a sign of progress or fashion is best left for viewers to decide. Movie buffs will spend more time slapping their foreheads in response to a denouement that can be spotted a kilometer away, and is explained away with all the brevity of a disclaimer in a TV ad for medication. The upshot? Get Mr. Gozlan a story with a good wrinkle, and he’ll likely come up with something special. In the meantime, “Visions” is there to dazzle until it ultimately doesn’t.

Old-Fashioned Thriller From Yann Gozlan Has Much To Like But Disappoints in the End

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