Anna M. review

Never let it be said that watching someone go spectacularly off their rocker doesn’t have its entertaining side. Unfortunately, as director Michel Spinosa has discovered, making a Fatal Attraction-esque thriller that’s also a serious study of mental illness is a lot harder than it sounds. Anna M (Isabelle Carré) is a lonely Parisian who becomes dangerously obsessed with her doctor (Gilbert Melki) following a car accident that leaves her with a broken leg. Carré is electrifyingly unpredictable as every man’s worst nightmare – her crazed wailing leaves nothing to be desired – but she’s let down by a script that tries but fails to lift the lid on Anna’s illness. Any plot tension fizzles out after the first 20 minutes and the rest is more a clinical case study than an involving drama. Is it psychologically accurate? Perhaps. Thrilling? Nope.