Lemming - film review
An engaging and at times unsettling drama revolving around the upwardly mobile French professional couple Alain and Benedicte. Alain is working on the design of a flying web-cam for a hi-tech company; the couple's home is a des-res in the south of France, and their stylish way of life is underscored by the Volvo V50 2.0D SE on the driveway. Things start to unravel after Alain's boss Richard and his wife Alice come round for a meal one evening. The pleasantly awkward dinner party terminates abruptly in a shower of sparkling dialogue, and thereafter events in Alain and Benedicte's lives start to spiral away from their hitherto orderly path.
Working late at the office one night, Alain is interrupted by Alice, (played by Charlotte Rampling) who attempts unsuccessfully to seduce the young designer. In a highly charged scene, when the smouldering Ms Rampling intones "...you can do anything you want with me, I won't be shocked..." the tension is not the only thing rising in the expectant audience.
Soon after, Alice pays a visit to Benedicte and plants seeds of disquiet in her mind that cause the younger woman to reassess the foundations of her relationship with Alain. Meanwhile, Alice exits their lives in a shocking scene, and sets in train a sequence of events that drive the narrative forward to a satisfactory conclusion.
Essential viewing.