Watch A BRUTAL GAME

Provocateur, philosopher and taboo-breaker, Jean Claude Brisseau's (Secret Things, The Exterminating Angels, A L'Aventure) fascinating tale takes the most unsympathetic character imaginable, the child killer Tessier (Bruno Cremer), and pleads his case. Tessier, a scientist, has a rebellious handicapped adolescent daughter. His fury about her plight may be behind his earlier murderous spree against children who vandalised his lab. His treatment of his daughter is strict to the point of sadism. None the less, Tessier evokes pity as much as revulsion. He's a shy, taciturn figure who has lost his moral bearings.

A deeply unsettling character study, UN JEU BRUTAL is anchored by Cremer's brooding performance, and freshened by the Buñuel-like surrealist touches and the director's resolute avoidance of serial-killer movie conventions.