François Cluzet

(On TV, June 2022) There’s something subtle and almost constantly creepy about the thrills in La mécanique de l’ombre, a French thriller that takes a stylish and austere approach that underplays the violence inherent to the plot. It begins with the alcohol and stress-fuelled breakdown of a middle-aged professional (François Cluzet, very credible), who finds himself unemployed and apparently unemployable… until he gets a mysterious job offer transcribing phone conversations for a mysterious employer. All strictly low-tech. Fed only scraps of explanation, we eventually figure out that he’s been hired by a parallel intelligence service working for shadowy forces: deadly, ruthless and opposed to the state’s intelligence services. The rest of the film’s paranoia-fuelled plot you can imagine for yourself – although the scene in which he’s asked to transcribe his own “secure” conversation with a senior intelligence officer is the film’s biggest highlight. Clearly going for murky nihilism rather than any kind of heroics (although the protagonist does get a few shots in), La mécanique de l’ombre is executed with a cold stylish flair by writer-director Thomas Kruithof. The romantic sub-lot is perfunctory and the intentional lack of triumph will frustrate many, but that’s the name of this game – the film clearly owes much to the troubled Le Carré school of spycraft when the stakes are high and yet ultimately meaningless. La mécanique de l’ombre is not meant to be loved or even liked, but it’s an entertaining watch if you’re willing to play along with its glum tone.