Director Denis has fashioned a moody neo-noir that sheds a piercing light on moral corruption at the highest levels. A treatise on recent sex ring scandals involving moneyed men, this dark thriller boasts a Robert Mitchum-like anti-hero in the grim, macho presence of Lindon, who exudes a simmering tension. Mastroianni (who so resembles her late father, actor Marcello) matches him in intensity, and the two emit considerable heat. Denis employs a fractured timeline to create a jarring atmosphere of dread and foreboding in this riveting tale of perversion and vengeance.