The Deadly Trap

1971 saw director Rene Clement – the French Hitchcock – in a very different mood if this slick and dreamlike mystery thriller is anything to go by. Oscar-winner Faye Dunaway and Oscar-nominee Frank Langella excel in this captivating mystery thriller.

Dunaway and Langella are Jill and Philip, an American couple who have re-located to Paris together with their two young children. While Jill takes on the role of an indulged housewife (partly looking after the kids, partly employing a childminder to do the same), Philip goes about his daily business though it’s never quite clear what exactly his work involves.
What gradually does become clear, however, is that back in the States, Philip was involved in some shady business. The recent move to France may or may not have been an attempt to escape all that.
Meanwhile, Jill begins to suffer from apparent and unexplainable memory losses. When the children suddenly vanish under odd circumstances, Philip finds himself confronted with the very past he tried to put behind him…

Gorgeous photography and a dreamlike, almost surreal atmosphere stimulate the senses in this little gem, which keeps you guessing at every angle.