"Tell No One"? Tell everyone: Tension never lets up in moody thriller

The dark-eyed French actor Guillaume Canet ("The Beach," "L'Enfer," "Love Me If You Dare") is a vivid on-screen presence; now, with his second feature, "Tell No One," he's proved that he's a genuine talent on the other side of the camera.

Based on a novel by the American crime writer Harlan Coben (Canet both adapted and directed), the film is a moody thriller, beginning with a devastating nighttime scene. A young couple, squabbling a bit but clearly happy, frolic in a lake outside their vacation cabin. The woman goes inside, while the man remains swimming, enjoying the quiet night. A scream pierces the calm, and as the man frantically tries to pull himself onto the dock and run to her, someone hits him and he disappears into the water. The screen goes black, and moments later we see the words "Eight years later."

It's an audacious opening, and "Tell No One" never lets up in its mood of ominous tension. Alexandre (François Cluzet), the man in the water, is a successful pediatrician who's whimsical and jokey with his patients but taciturn in his personal life — eight years after the fact, he's still mourning his vivacious wife, Margot (Marie-Josée Croze). He's still single, still visiting Margot's parents on the anniversary of her death, still brooding. And then Margot's case is reopened — two new bodies are found by the scene of the crime — and Alexandre, newly a suspect, begins to receive mysterious e-mail messages, hinting that his wife may still be living. "Tell no one," is how the messages end.

I won't begin to describe the tangled web of plot Canet and Coben spin; suffice for potential audiences to know that this thriller is both terrifying and subtle, punctuated with a beautifully choreographed chase scene and sprinkled liberally with women who possess a particular brand of breezy, sharp-featured chic. Among them are Alexandre's sister Anne (Marina Hands), whose sad eyes hint at a secret; Anne's wry lover Hélène (Kristin Scott-Thomas), who's so unflappable she makes inquiring cops wait while she bums a cigarette; Alexandre's stylish, icy lawyer Elysabeth (Nathalie Baye); and a nameless, silent female character who's thin as a police baton and whose skill at executing a very precise method of torture is enough to make even the hardiest of audience members gaze down into their popcorn.

And while Canet handles the machinations of the plot with skill, he knows how to slow down and let actors have their moments: an electric look between Anne and Hélène that seems capable of searing celluloid; the quiet bitterness of Margot's father (André Dussollier), who can't let go of the past; the crushing wonder in Alexandre's face as he beholds a woman who might be his lost love. Elegant and engrossing, "Tell No One" is an intricate puzzle for a summer evening; a thriller with a rare touch of bittersweet romance.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725

or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com