Click here!

Before the Winter Chill (15)

Before the Winter Chill (15)

Drama

Lucie presumes that her husband Paul - an older neurosurgeon - has an affair. Indeed, Paul behaves strange lately, but the truth behind it is dark and complicated.


The critical consensus

It’s a rather odd film: excellent performances, a convincing milieu, and then a final twist that is so improbable that all Claudel's careful work seems undone.

**(*)(*)(*)Eddie Harrison, The List, 21/04/2014

Slow to ignite, but watchable if you are intrigued by elegant French living, menopausal men or arguing about denouements all the way home.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 04/05/2014

Though there’s plenty of thoughtful meditation, there’s also the faint whiff of middle-aged wish fulfilment. The result is elegant if frosty, and just a touch too long in the tooth.

***(*)(*)Matt Glasby, Total Film, 05/05/2014

Philippe Claudel’s slow-burning thriller boasts a superlative performance from Daniel Auteuil as a man in late middle age on the verge of a breakdown.

****(*)Geoffrey MacNab, The Independent, 08/05/2014

The all-important chill is tepid.

**(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 08/05/2014

Before The Winter Chill often feels more of a melancholy character study than a thriller. When it delivers on that intrigue with a completely unexpected denouement, you realise it has been cleverly structured and perfectly executed.

****(*)Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 09/05/2014

Sophisticated themes lose their way in a brutal third act.

Sophie Monks Kaufman, Little White Lies, 08/05/2014

Though the set-up hints at Auteil’s masterful collaboration with Michael Haneke in Hidden, the revelations that lie behind this sinister-seeming intrusion on his character’s rather bourgeois life prove much more generic and mundane.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 10/05/2014

With its chilly visual sheen and sharp bourgeois satire, this handsomely mounted and consistently well-played yarn offers disposable pleasures and rewarding intrigue.

***(*)(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 11/05/2014

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee from Friday May 30, 2014, until Thursday June 5, 2014. More info: www.dca.org.uk

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube

Click here!