Fear X (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2003)

Mall security guard Harry Caine lives in limbo following the unsolved murder of his wife and sets out to find the killer himself. There is an explanation of sorts somewhere down the line, but the director is really only interested in creating a destabilising air which sucks the audience into the character's walking hell. Moments of almost unendurable tension, created with nothing more than the old box of tricks of angles, lighting and an ominous drone, are somewhat undermined by abstract Lynchian interludes, of both the trippy visual and random behaviour variety. Winding Refn also risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater in seeking to keep the viewers in the dark by paring down the links and exposition between events to a minimum, but the power of the atmosphere and the emotional intelligence of the directorial choices do prevail, as does John Turturro against the emotional straitjacket of his role.

6/10