Movie Review : Tell no one

Director : Guillaume Canet

I haven’t read the book upon which this film is based. I did intend to read it once; it lay on my bedside table for a very long time, but I had to drop it after a few pages. It makes a good movie. Sort of like the Robert Ludlum novels I can never read because I can’t bear to go through all the technical descriptions about guns and other such machinery. But Ludlum novels do well in a movie format; all those technical descriptions that take pages that you would have to wade through to reach the crux of the problem can be glossed over in quick, smooth action which takes just a few seconds.

“Tell no one” is a French film, in the French language. So all you English speaking folk will have to make do with sub-titles just as we did. The film (and the book) is about the disappearance of Margot Beck, wife of Dr. Alex Beck. Alex and Margot are childhood sweethearts. One night as they are out swimming at a favorite lake, Margot disappears. Alex is physically hit by an unseen assailant and is in a coma for the next three days. When he wakes it is to hear that Margot is no more. Her body has been found and identified. Alex, who has lost the love of his life, is heart-broken. Additionally he is also a suspect in the murder.

Cut to 8 years later. Life goes on, with Alex attending to his pediatric practice in Paris. He still misses his wife acutely. Then on Margot’s death anniversary he receives an email from an unknown person. The email has information only his wife could have known, and directs him to watch a webcam on the internet at a specific time. It also admonishes Alex to tell no one about it. While puzzled, Alex logs onto the webcam visual at the assigned time, and sees what he could not have imagined . . .

This is an engrossing film. It moves fast and has unexpected turns and twists; essentially quite unpredictable. It is beautifully written and well told. The acting is superb. In Dr. Alex Beck you have a very unlikely protagonist; he’s a soft-spoken pediatrician, clean-cut and gentlemanly. You would not attribute violence or an angry emotion to him. When he goes hunting for clues, he does it the polite way; he asks. And when he is forced out of his comfort zone (he is now apparently a suspect in the re-opened murder case) and pursued by the police, he must draw on resources he didn’t know he had.

An intriguing thriller, this is a must-see. Fellow-Netflix-ers, you will be happy to know that this is available to stream. So, go on. Enjoy.