Alanté Kavaité’s debut seeks to recast such audio-paranoia pictures as The Conversation and Blow Out in the sinister tradition of Henri-Georges Clouzot.
Imparting a solemnity that reinforces the eeriness generated by the cinematography, Émilie Dequenne excels as the sound recordist who takes up residence in the cottage where her mother was murdered.
There, she begins hearing voices from the past that insinuate possible motives for the crime for a corrupt mayor, an organic farmer, and the devoted, slow-witted son of a hostile neighbour.
The scenario is vulnerable to scrutiny, but works well enough for Joe Dante to have snagged remake rights.