Chrysalis

A future-shock slice of film noir, Chrysalis is set in a very grey Paris in 2020 and centres on a no-nonsense cop (Dupontel) hot on the heels of the human trafficker who brutally killed his wife and partner. Shadowing his story is that of a teenage girl almost killed in a car crash; that they will collide at the movie’s climax is obvious enough, the question is how and why. Paying homage to such classics as Bladerunner and A Clockwork Orange, Leclercq has crafted a dark, disturbing, visually stunning sci-fi thriller filled with uniformly strong performances. On the down side the plot twists are predictable and sometimes clichéd and the story never quite matches the standard of the moviemaking. But this is still a high-octane ride of the highest quality and the cinematography, production design and relentless action scenes are so top notch it’s almost difficult to care about such minor things as plot. [Neil Whiting]