This is a really fine film, by turns cultured, frightening and erotic. It's a thriller woven from the tension in the relationship between the dried up author Sarah and the nymphomaniacal publisher's daughter Julie with whom she is forced to share a villa in the Sud.<br /><br />Ozon has made it so much more though. It is also an erotic drama, Sarah forced to confront herself in the cast-off wake of Julie's promiscuity. The women's tacit sexual comparisons are also played out in a series of Oedipal symbols and exchanges Most striking is a gash of a red lilo that sits menacingly and yet enticingly by the pool throughout; the men that Julie brings back to the house are also pawn-like, less sexual partners than bargaining chips between the two women.<br /><br />Further ghostly references are thrown into the mix with the circumstances not dissimilar to Henry James' The Turn of The Screw and a shocking allusion to Nick Roeg's Don't Look Now as the drama mounts. As much as the drama is maintained in beautifully constructed shots and careful control of the tension and pacing this film's success must be the overwhelming performance of Rampling as Sarah. It's difficult to condense one's thoughts on the studiousness, allure and sacrifice that make up a contribution as convincing as this. Sagnier's brattish but sharp Julie is no less committed and role-immersed. Mesmerising film-making 8.5/10