Review: Lemming (A-)

Lemming (A-)
Directed by Dominik Moll
Starring Charlotte Rampling, Laurent Lucas, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Andre Dussollier
MPAA: R
Grade: A-

Review by Sebastian Francis Kennedy

Lemming is a strangely disturbing, hauntingly mesmerizing film that is reminiscent of David Lynch's latest film, Mulholland Drive. It opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and it has been highly praised by critics around the world. The praise is well earned. Lemming is a dark gem of a film.

Laurent Lucas stars as Alain, a programmer that has just been recruited to work for a high tech firm in Bel Air. Alain and his wife Benedicte are recently married and very much in love. Alain's new boss Richard Pollock (Andre Dussollier) invites himself and his wife Alice (Charlotte Rampling) to dinner at the young couples home. Alice openly battles with her husband and she is rude to Alain and Bénédicte (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg). After Alice accuses Richard of having an affair, the couple leaves in a huff. That evening, Benedicte finds a lemming caught in her kitchen sink.

In the days that follow, Alain and his young wife are brought into a strange, violent world. The Pollocks are not a normal couple. Alice is deeply disturbed (she attempts to seduce Alain at work) and Richard, while normal on the outside, is a man with secrets all his own. Alice is cruel, demented and obviously psychotic. She begins to harrass the young couple. Alain begins to wonder if what he is experiencing is real. And the Lemming in the sink. Is it causing all of this?

Lemming is wonderfully directed and the visuals are surprisingly good. It has wonderful dialogue and the acting, especially the performance by Charlotte Rampling, is excellent. Nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes, Lemming is one of the best films we have come across in a long time. Don't be surprised if this one ends up on our Top Ten List at the end of the year. Highly recommended.