Burnt Out

A fine film anyway, but this is arguably most notable as yet another example of the sheer expertise and charisma of Gourmet, familiar from films by the Dardennes and others, and here given his head as the white-collar worker, already tense due to his exploitative boss’s near-bullying methods and blowing a fuse when the company’s callous treatment of his friend ends in tragedy. One of those fascinating French studies of conflict and pressure within the workplace, it edges from low-key realism into full-blown noir; whatever implausibilities are offered up by the plot are easily compensated for by sturdy characterisation and by the overall concept of labour relations as a deadly minefield. Suspenseful and relevant.