No. 23 (2021) BLACK BOX (BOITE NOIRE) Perth; French Film Festival March 25th.

 

Film No. 23 (2021)  March. 25th.  3:45 PM  Cinema 5 LUNA,  Leederville. 

"There is more to this than meets the eye" (Promotional slogan to colour the poster of Boite Noire).

This thriller by French writer/director Yann Gozlan, is the sort of rollicking ride that will inevitably be snapped up by a U.S. studio and turned into a slick but inferior remake with half the originality for twice the production price. So make no mistake, Boite Noire has every quality that grips its audience in a tense state of anticipation. Noire never slips into cliche. The outcome, while not a complete surprise, has a couple of twists that gives a satisfaction level often not served up to an audience in recent times. So, we all know what a Black Box is, yes? We all know about big business and the temptation for corruption if reputation is questioned? This is not new to story telling. The relevance, in Boite Noire, of that corruption comes when a plane hits the side of a mountain. But it is never as straight forward as this. The final twists are simple but surprising. With a couple of young stars in Sebastien Pauderoux and Lou de Laage helping to keep us tightly belted to our seats. Gozlan has created a wonderful, tense, thrilling film. I'm sure he'll be rewarded further when Hollywood pays for his creative brilliance. 10GUMS.