Trouble Every Day

Beau Travail director Claire Denis ventures into the mainstream - and some controversy - in this tenebrous horror outing, but quickly gets out of her depth. The opening segments are enacted with scarcely any dialogue, as honeymooners Vincent Gallo and Tricia Vessey arrive in Paris just as doctor Alex Descas imprisons the carnivorous Béatrice Dalle in his mansion. But what links these apparently unconnected events? Unfortunately, any sense of foreboding is rapidly frittered away once the characters begin justifying their actions and behaving in an increasingly bizarre manner. Most disappointingly for a director usually so sensitive to atmosphere and psychology, Denis seems merely preoccupied with nudity and gore, yet fails to either titillate or shock.