"“A quite magnificent piece of French cinema...”"

Although regrettably this is not a cinematic adaptation of the mid-90's American sitcom of the same name, François Ozon's In The House is a brilliantly innovative dark comedy, combining a charming, blithesome ambiance, with a dark and mysterious narrative – resulting in a quite magnificent piece of French cinema.

When the apathetic school teacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini) sets his new class an assignment to write about their weekends activities, a quiet, unusual student by the name of Claude (Ernst Umhauer) writes an enticing, almost voyeuristic and satirical piece about entering the middle-class abode of fellow student Rapha (Bastien Ughetto) – leaving it on a cliffhanger. Germain and his wife Jeanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) become transfixed with Claude's words, and as the chapters keep falling on Germain's desk, the pair follow this story intently, as Claude wangles his way into Rapha's life, becoming close to his parents in the process, and documenting his journey each step of the way...

In the House truly portrays the curious, prying nature of society and our lust for gossip and information, as the way Germain and Jeanne crave each chapter of Claude's story (as the audience do too) represents the need for literary escapism, and the chance to live through others words and stories. There is a brilliant sense of mystery to this also, as Ozon carefully crafts his feature so to keep the audience guessing, as at points it becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend whether the story unfolding in front of us is genuine, or merely the figment of an enthusiastic 16 year old's active imagination.

Ozon also maintains a wonderfully deadpan humour to this, with a sense of irony present – as the film itself is reflective in tone to that of the story Claude is writing; witty and satirical. Nonetheless, when you have a story of this ambition and complexity, the writer can be accused of not knowing quite how to tie it all together. In a similar vein to Ruby Sparks, you get about three quarters of the way through and it suddenly dawns on you that they may struggle concluding this. And they do.

Despite the film losing its way somewhat, that doesn't take away from the brilliance of the feature, and one that is so multilayered, as a feature that demands a second viewing. Ozon has a real knack for delivering films that have a touch of surrealism to them yet remain a true comment on society and social class – and In the House is no different.