Getting a strong grasp on his characters and developing an edgy mystery, Francois Ozon pulls off a fine tale that cringes while it titillates. This fresh take on a different kind of predator puts In the House on a must list for those who like the unusual.  Well acted and directed this movie import really entertains those who like sharp edged films that are quite unpredictable.   

The movie centers on upper school student Claude (Ernst Unhauer) whose facade is very different than his fellow students.  Being an only child living with his dad and coming from the ‘other side of the tracks’ his goal surrounds getting to know those that have happy homes. In his math class he notices the well groomed and popular Rapha (Bastien Ughetto) struggling with his trigonometry.  Taking advantage of his strong IQ in mathematics, he offers to help Rapha with his homework. It’s his devious way of getting into Rapha’s house that he has been watching from a nearby park.

Fabrice Luchini as Germain and Kristin Scott-Thomas as his wife

While grading a class assignment one evening literately instructor Mr. Germain (Fabrice Luchini) can’t find any talent in his pupils until he starts to read Claude’s paper on what he did over the weekend.  Nicely written with a dramatic tone, punctuated perfectly and just long enough to make it exemplary, he feels strongly that he may have a diamond in the rough.  One thing bothers him however, since the paper was to be a piece of non-fiction there’s description that makes him doubt the essay’s reality based and why at the bottom it says “to be continued”.  When he starts to get more papers continuing his story involving Claude with Rapha with a suspecting tone, Mr. Germain becomes torn between investigating the truth and ruining the boy’s creativity.

Claude (Ernst Unhauer) and Rapha (Bastien Ughetto)

The remarkably acted movie has some very interesting characters with Unhauer putting on a great show as the kid who desires a new life.  He brings Claude into Rapha’s home, gets accepted and then looks for options on how he can continue as part of the family. Cunning and calculating Unhauer’s gets his character to control the mystery and nicely manipulates the actions of his co-stars roles.

As his unwitting assistant in Claude’s scheme to establish himself in Rapha’s family, Luchini gives a masterful performance as the professor who thinks he has his first prodigy. He does almost anything to help the boy who can finally exemplify his excellent teaching skills and be the writer he never was, even if it can ultimately end his career. When the writings start getting sexual in nature however, Germain finds himself in a tight spot.

Director Francois Ozon (L) on the set of IN THE HOUSE

I like the way Francois Ozon puts his story together and slowly introduces Claude’s plan by showing both sides of each character, the obvious consequences being ignored and the twists that make the finale somewhat unpredictable.  The fun in watching it all play out comes with the viewer feeling uncomfortable with Claude, then trying to figure out how he may get away with it.  This aspect Ozon does brilliantly leading his committed audience into his story of dishonesty and then opening it up for their scrutiny during the finale.

In the House has been rated R for sexual content and language. There are brief scenes of nudity and some violence. The film is presented in French with English subtitles.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  A very good mystery chiller with some cool twists. (B)

Additional Film Information:

• Cast: Fabrice Luchini, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Ernst Umhauer, Bastien Ughetto
• Directed by: François Ozon
• Genre: Mystery, Foreign
• Language: In French with English Subtitled
• MPAA Rating: Rated R for sexual content and language
• Running Time: 1 hr 45 min
• Opening Date: May 10, 2013
• Distributed by: Cohen Media Group