Vinyan

Directed by Fabrice du Welz

This is a seriously creepy movie. Jeanne (Emmanuelle Beart) and Paul Belmer (Rufus Sewell) are expatriates (from, we assume, different countries) living in post-Tsunami Thailand. They lost their young son to the waves, and for the last six months have been struggling to come to grips with their loss.

While at a fundraiser for orphanages in flood-damaged Burma, Jeanne believes that she sees Joshua, their son, on a snippet of video. Obsessed, she finds her way into the Thai underground, in the hopes that a snakehead by the name of Thaksin Gao (Petch Osathanugrah) can take them to the correct village and help them find their son.

From there, the movie becomes a bit of a re-make of Apocalypse Now, as the couple journeys on a decrepit river boat into deserted and desolate villages, and where locals attempt to sell them a talcum-powdered "white boy". They come across a group of feral children, and the movie slowly descends into a horror film, with a very disturbing conclusion.

The filmmakers do a fantastic job of switching genres slowly, leading the viewer from an expectation of a happy ending to a realization of terror. The jungle setting, with its ruined church, drips with creepiness even before we see the muddy and silent children.

The acting in this film is excellent. Beard's descent into madness is very realistic, as is Sewell's quiet fury. There are a few things about the film that don't make sense - I doubt very much that remote Thailand receives cell-phone coverage, making the argument that phones don't work in Burma a little ridiculous; and I don't believe that someone as well-controlled as Paul would leave on such a journey without first informing at least one friend in civilization.

These are minor points though, as the film captivates.