SYNOPSIS
Simon Killer. Simon, a recent college graduate, escapes to France after a complicated break-up with his long-term girlfriend, seemingly intent on regrouping and coming to terms with his recent loss. One evening, while roaming the Parisian streets, Simon meets Victoria, a young prostitute with whom he begins an unexpected relationship. As Victoria welcomes the enigmatic stranger into her life, things appear to be going well for Simon, until his charming facade starts to slip, and slowly a dark side emerges, with disturbing effects. As the young sociopath at the film’s centre, Brady Corbet’s performance is one of unsettling moral ambivalence, initially calm and cunning, but increasingly unhinged as his barriers begin to break down. The film’s arresting sound design punctuates the action with strident bursts of music, and as with his previous film Afterschool, director Antonio Campos’ (who produced Martha Marcy May Marlene) highly stylised, occasionally abstract framing creates an air of cool detachment and sly unease.
Premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 15 2012.