This movie is simply beautiful. The colour palette reminiscent of a cold stainless steel morgue or the impersonal fluorescent lights in a inner city waiting room sets a sterile stage for a sparely-acted cold-blooded autopsy. The characters bring to mind, at different points, Thomas Harris' Hannibal Rising and John Knowles' A Separate Peace. There's a current of knife-edge homo-eroticism running beneath the bloodless bodies and half-hearted allusions to conspiracy and myth. However, sadly enough, the whole supposed moving force with the order, the Cathars and the Knights Templar is never fully explained, and detracts from the tensions between the two boys. In addition, the ending is far too vague. What was the inspector really up to? What is the involvement with the adults' "club"? What's which the playing card? I realize the director probably wanted to leave the ending open to discussion, but one finds it a little too vague. Has Nigel's "purpose" moved on to Alex? Was Alex really the one at fault the entire time? Are the boys so "like" that there is no one or the other? In conclusion,this potentially excellent exploration of the relationship between two disturbed boys is subtracted from by the attempt at a suspense film ending. A beautiful picture, but at the end of the equation, a disappointing result. Watch it, revel in it, but expect to realize it could have been so much more. 8/10
Review of Murderous Intent
