I had read a bit about Ne le dis à personne, aka Tell No One, before I had watched it, as I normally do, that made me go into the film with high expectations. A critical and box office hit in its native France, the highest praise came from Sir Michael Caine who said it was probably the best movie he had EVER seen, add that with the very high percentage it has on Rotten Tomatoes of 95% (As of time of writing this) and the fact most reviews I had read were very positive, you can understand why my expectations were high.

Normally when this happens I am left disappointed after watching it, and with Tell No One I was a little disappointed because as I said, I had read many VERY positive reviews and it certainly isn’t perfect, but I was half expecting that in truth, but I still enjoyed it a lot, but is it the best movie ever or even close to it? Nope. Is it a very solid film that keeps you guessing until the ending? Yep.

Tell No One is a French thriller starring François Cluzet, who plays Alex Beck, a doctor who is still coming to terms with the murder of his wife, Margot, played by Marie-Josée Croze, 8 years after it happened, apparently by a serial killer who preyed on women. When two bodies are dug up at the same site where his wife was murdered, Alex is yet again under suspicion, with certain people still believing he had something to do with his wife’s murder as some of his story of that night never completely made sense, which left some people wondering. Shortly after a visit from the police about the recent bodies that are found, Alex receives an email that features a video with what appears to be a clip of his wife looking alive and well and warning Alex to tell no one as they are being watched. From then on Alex goes on the run from the police as he tries to find out the truth, with a little help from his skinhead friend Bruno, while a gang of thugs also want to know where Margot is, who are they? Is she alive? What exactly happened?

François Cluzet looks about 20 years older than his character is meant to be, but he puts in a good performance in the lead role, and the final scene in particular is very good, this isn’t just a thriller, it’s also a story of a man who still hasn’t got over his wife’s ‘death’, and the emotion in the final scene is done superbly, even though it is a very ‘Hollywood’ ending. The action scenes are done well also, one scene in particular is excellent, with Alex being chased and having to run across a busy motorway to escape the police. The film is gripping and you will be asking yourself what is what throughout the film as the story unfolds giving you small bits of information one after another, before the final conclusion reveals all.

Apart from Alex you are also introduced to a whole range of characters, including Hélène played by Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Alex’s younger sisters lesbian lover, Margots father played by Andre Dussollier, and my favourite character, Bruno, played by Gilles Lellouche, a skinhead criminal tough guy who repays a favour from years before by helping Alex. This is a film with good acting and a good script and story.

Criticism wise, the film definitely goes on for about 15-20 minutes too long, I wouldn’t say the film drags on because of it or anything but it could easily have been cut a little shorter. I would definitely have liked to see more doubt about whether Margot was alive or not or if it was just a trick, it’s evident pretty quickly that she is alive and a bit more doubt about that for a bit longer would of been good, same goes with Alex, more doubt surrounding him would of been good. As for the ending, well, the ‘villain’ is a bit predictable, but the ending is pretty decent apart from that, maybe I was a bit let down by the ending but I think that’s because I had very high expectations, but it’s decent enough, it wraps everything up nicely and any unanswered questions you were asking yourself during the film will be answered. There is a maybe a few other minor niggles about the film as well involving the plot, but nothing too major in all honesty, for me anyway.

Overall this is a gripping thriller that is pretty well done, I hope the high praise it is getting doesn’t leave people too disappointed after watching it like sometimes happens, but it IS a pretty solid thriller that is intriguing and thought provoking with some good acting as well. I think you could certainly do a lot worse than spending a bit of time watching Ne le dis à personne.

Have you seen Ne le dis à personne, aka Tell No One? What did you think?