Review of The Bridesmaid

There are a couple of good plot twists near the end of "The Bridesmaid", but in general this movie can hardly be classified as a "thriller" - it's more of a slow-burning psychological drama. Still, it remains interesting throughout, mostly thanks to excellent performances in every role, no matter how big or small, as you would expect from a Claude Chabrol movie. At first I thought Benoît Magimel was slightly miscast as a "normal", sensible guy drawn into a bizarre new world, but soon I realized the character he plays has his creepy, hidden sides as well - especially his (never fully explained) obsession with a stone head that resembles both his mother and his new girlfriend. Speaking of the new girlfriend, Laura Smet must be one of the most (atypically) beautiful and promising actresses of the new French generation: here she makes her character's warped (to put it mildly) morality seem casual, and she mixes the sick with the sweet. This movie is definitely worth seeing, as long as you don't expect many thrills. **1/2 out of 4.