Sélect Hotel

Volatile, alienated but still hanging together, Tof (Fête) is loyal to his drugged out sister Nathalie (Gayet), but frustrated by her inability to dispense with the insistent services of her smarmy pimp (Andreoni). Their problems escalate as Tof turns to robbery, and, carried away with contempt and a sudden sense of power, sexually humiliates a shopkeeper and his wife. Tragedy beckons. Set in and around a seedy hotel in Place Clichy, the movie (from a first-time writer/director) clearly isn't out to paint a pretty picture. Though rough at the edges, it features fine photography and an impressive use of music. There may be misjudgments: using Blumental's wronged shopkeeper as a kind of audience identification figure, for example, or the misleading faux documentary opening; but overall the film has conviction, honesty and the smack of truth.