A slow thriller about a young trainee nurse who suspects that one of the doctors working at the hospital is up to no good.The white wash of the entire hospital gives the film it's eerie, anonymous feel, however it remains highly predictable throughout which is a little annoying. Fortunately the obvious chemistry between the main actors compensates and certainly adds to the tension that is needed. Sophie Quinton is entirely believable as the naive Isabelle and never 'overplays' the part and Laurent Lucas is perfect for the charming yet sinister doctor.One for those who like Hitchcock and don't mind sitting though a 2 hour film, although it does make you think twice about going to the doctor again ...

I missed the first 15 minutes or so and that might be why the ending left me as confused as it did. I mean, what happened to the doc? Was the forest and the hole part of a dream? Was the whole movie a dream? Did I fall asleep and dream it all myself? In any case, I found this to be pretty good. It's slow, of course, by the standards of, say, "Coma", or "Freddy and Jason Haunt a Hospital," but the visual images, the score, and the acting make up for it and keep a viewer's attention engaged.The visual images are striking in their sterility and simplicity. It's not not like any hospital you've ever been except maybe in a couche-mar. The hospitals I'm familiar with -- the better ones -- have people bustling about night and day, and the floors have coded colored lines on them. This hospital is mostly empty. And oddly lighted. Even the OR is dark except for some dramatic lighting over the patient etherized upon the table. In the corridors, the FLOORS seem to emit their own white light.There is hardly any score to speak of. There is usually an ominous discordant electronic hum. Aside from that there is only a slight groan from an opening door and the squeak of rubber soles on polished linoleum. Well, an occasional scream too.The acting is fine on everyone's part. Dr. Phillip's role doesn't call for much except a haughty look and a stern tone. But Isabella is just about right. Few people have ever looked so winsome and helpless. She has a slight figure and the face of an adolescent girl. (Try to imagine Gerard Depardieu in the part.) The story itself is rather routine. We've seen it in one or another variation before. But this is a well-done example of the genre, worth catching.

American films of this type show lots of blood and gore. The French take that off screen. Americans cover up. The French realize that nakedness is part of life.Consequently, when Americans watch a sophisticated European suspense film, we're unable to engage it. We believe that the only terror comes from popped veins.Why can't we be more like the French? Hitchcock would have preferred this to the usual fare of slasher pics that come out of the American movie establishment.The title is such a delicious tease....

This is a throwback to the horror and action-adventure movies in which the tension is based on the threatened woman who cannot get out of the way of danger because of her passivity, gullibility, or other gender stereotyped disability. Here we are offered a pseudo-psychological explanation having to do with her mother having died (mother-loss rendering her more vulnerable to domination by the medical patriarchy????) She fails to act or to follow through repeatedly (e.g. failing to mention the clue of the two needle holes after she goes out on a limb at the incident review conference, and we are given no clues as to her motivation in taking that risk at that point or in her failure to follow through).Other egregious negative stereotyping in these genres (and in the crime genre) are--- screaming upon finding the corpse, and running from danger being pulled by the man (have you ever tried running holding someone's hand? Dysfunctional!!)