Read My Lips review

An accomplished, menacing thriller from the writer-director of A Self-Made Hero and See How They Fall. Here Jacques Audiard uses a film noir framework in order to bring an unorthodox romantic relationship into sharp focus.

Treated as little more than a dogsbody by her office colleagues, deaf secretary Carla (Emmanuelle Devos) forms an unlikely alliance with her new work assistant, seedy ex-convict Paul (Vincent Cassel). But we're not just talking cups of coffee and friendly chats at the photocopier here - - Paul wants to use Carla's lip-reading skills to help him rob violent nightclub-owner Marchand (Olivier Gourmet), to whom Paul already owes money.

Tautly written and stylishly composed, Read My Lips is part Hitchcock homage, part absorbing character study. Audiard succeeds in creating both, benefitting hugely from Devos and Cassel's powerful central performances as two lonely and fearful outsiders who gradually recognise their mutual dependency.