Tell No One (Ne Le Dis a Personne) DVD Review

By Kam Williams    

Convoluted French Crime Thriller Comes to DVD

Margot (Marie-Josee Croze) and Alexandre Beck (Francois Cluzet) were celebrating their anniversary at their favorite spot to rendezvous along the shore of a secluded lake when she was brutally murdered by a serial killer. That was eight years ago and today the disconsolate widower continues to mourn the loss of his childhood sweetheart.

Meanwhile, Dr. Beck has continued to practice medicine but he has only been able to function with the help of his younger sister's (Marina Hands) lesbian lover, Helene (Kristin Scott Thomas). Everything changes the day mysterious messages begin to arrive via email suggesting that Margot might somehow still be alive, despite the fact that her body was presumably cremated. Furthermore, he is warned to "Tell no one" because "we're being watched."

Desperate to get to the bottom of what must be either a cruel joke or a lead to the best reunion he could have ever imagined, Alex begins to follow clues which have him interacting with a criminal element on the seamy side of Paris. But what he doesn't know is that the police have decided to reopen the case after finding another couple of bodies buried back at the lake, along with new evidence.

He suddenly becomes the prime suspect, and there are question aplenty waiting to be answered in Tell No One, a cleverly-concealed whodunit directed by Guillaume Canet. Is Margot dead or alive? If deceased, was her husband involved?

Clocking in at a tedious 2+ hours, this over-plotted crime caper could've easily have had an excess half-hour of filler hit the cutting room floor and thereby offered a more riveting experience. Nonetheless, those blessed with patience are likely to deem the surprising denouement well worth the wait.

Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
In French with subtitles
Running time: 125 minutes
Studio: Music Box Films
2-Disc DVD Extras: Deleted scenes with commentary, and outtakes.

To see a trailer of Tell No One,

Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee. Contact him through NewsBlaze.