Horrible title for an amazing film. It's drawn a lot of comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs, which makes sense since it was obviously inspired by it (there's even a little nod to it with the main character having the novel on her bookshelf); the bleak and unrelenting tone as a backdrop for a story with a strong but tortured female detective hunting a killer. But the film shouldn't be dismissed as a rip-off or anything close; it's a fantastic journey into the darkness with a strong performance to bring you in. The story has an interesting approach in bringing us into the world, with a drunk driving incident being the catalyst for a murder and thus bringing the police force into it all.Unlike most tales of this nature though, we get a lot of focus into many different subplots involving a romantic relationship, the struggle of the men driving the car responsible for a murder and ultimately into the mind of the killer themselves. It gets a little cluttered in the middle with all of these strains going on, but ultimately it boils back down to a fascinating thriller with great characters and a powerful lead performance. Melanie Laurent is absolutely dynamite here, portraying the lead with a tortured soul and a strong surface front. She always has you focused on her, studying her expressions and being right with her through every emotion she faces. This is a gripping and very bleak mystery that keeps your mind racing along with your pulse; the final fifteen minutes are some of the most intense I've seen in some time. Definitely an underrated hit.

Weird unpleasant and unnerving murder mystery that I still haven't completely unraveled. It begins with two men hitting a pedestrian, stealing the money he was carrying and getting mixed up with a kidnapping. Meanwhile a young detective with two kids investigates a murder that seems to be related. Thats a poor attempt at explaining this odd film, honestly there is no way to simply explain this with out giving too much away. Think Silence of the Lambs meets Seven meets something similar. Its a weird frigging movie requires you to pay attention and deal with often heavy weirdness. Worth a look if you like very strange unsettling films. I'm not sure what I think of it completely or that I got everything after one late night viewing. I'm going to have to try it again when I'm much less tired. (A word of warning its got some scenes of heavy sexuality, including hardcore graphic sex in at least one scene on a TV screen, so keep the kids away.)

I completely disagree with the comment made by the person from UAE. I'm not generally a fan of the horror/thriller genre, but since this a French film, I was willing to give it a shot. It far exceeded my expectations. I'm not going to say anything about the film's plot, because this is one of those movies to see when you don't know anything about it. I'm just going to say that a smart, small distributor should pick this movie up for distribution here in the U.S. I would suggest a title change for the U.S. from the unfortunate "Melody's Smile." Why not use the literal translation from the original French title, which is "The Room of the Dead"? The audience I saw this with in Los Angeles at COL-COA this week was very enthusiastic. This movie is so much better than the by-the-numbers horror thrillers that so many U.S. movie makers crank out. This movie is genuinely creepy and scary.

I've had the chance to see this movie yesterday in Paris before I leave. From the trailer, I thought it's worth seeing as it looks like a good thriller/horror film. But I was so disappointed. The story line is somehow predictable. It lacks originality and you can easily compare it to a masterpiece of cinema (i'm not gonna mention the name, but i'm pretty sure you'll guess it). As for the cast, I think they were over-acting here and there, maybe due to the weak script and the empty moments where they look like not knowing what to fill the scene with. But hey, not everything is bad, you'll enjoy some good cinematography in some scenes, specially in the beginning. Unfortunately, i think it's a missed opportunity and as we say in french: Dommage, c'est raté!