Fear X

Synopsis
Impinging on David Lynch territory while adding a dash of film noir to the melee, Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn (PUSHER) serves up a startlingly original feature film in FEAR X. Harry Caine (John Turturro) is a security guard whose wife Claire (Jacqueline Ramel) was shot and killed outside the shopping mall where he works. Intent on finding the perpetrator of the crime, Harry carries out a tireless search for the murderer. Footage garnered from the mall security cameras offer little in the way of explanation, and after exhausting all rational avenues, Harry becomes plagued by hallucinations and an obsession with the house across the street, which he believes may offer a clue to the killer's identity. Breaking into the depleted house, he finds a picture of a woman, Kate (Deborah Unger), and traces her approximate whereabouts to a vague location in Montana. Convinced Kate has something to do with his deceased wife, Harry continues on his quest by taking up residence in a peculiar Montana hotel which is bathed in rich red colors, and appointed with antiquated wooden furnishings. At this point, Refn really delivers his stylistic tour de force. Drawing on strange encounters with mysterious figures who may or may not know the whereabouts of Kate, while offering spooky visualizations of the thoughts pulsing through Harry's mind as he loses his grip on the sane world, Refn violently drags his characters to the close of the movie. With an evocative score from musician Brian Eno interjected dynamically throughout, and a sometimes bewildering, but always thought-provoking script from Refn and co-writer Hubert Selby Jr., FEAR X is a refreshing, inspiring piece of work that is destined to be discussed long after it reaches its conclusion.

Reviews
"The movie's ominous mood is deepened by Brian Eno and J. Peter Schwalm's ambient background score, which haunts the movie with faraway groans and rattles." (New York Times)

"[A] compelling psychological suspense drama made in a rigorous minimalist mode that represents a potent offbeat collaboration..." (Los Angeles Times)