Known as Maryland in France, Disorder was the latest film to be shown at Odeon’s Screen Unseen event. Some may have been disappointed with a French language film. It isn’t something that bothers me – especially when the film keeps me so on edge.

Disorder tells the story of Vincent (Matthias Schoenaerts), a soldier suffering from PTSD. While home, he picks up private security jobs. His latest one is at a villa called Maryland where a party – and a battle with Vincent’s own paranoia – takes place.

Schoenaerts is excellent as the troubled soldier, constantly conveying the suffering stemming from the conflict between duty and terror. He’s frightened of the only thing he knows how to do. He’s great during the action, but he excels everywhere else. This is a film that’s more about the building of tension that its release, and Schoenaerts expertly portrays that sense of nerve-shredding anxiety that encompasses the story.

Diane Kruger is also noteworthy as the mother he’s tasked to protect. Despite her character being somewhat of a reactive one, she still wrestles with the gripping conflict of being frightened of the only person able to protect her.

The score is also good. At times of high stress an electronic pounding and during moments of doubt, an eerie melody that oscillates in a way that’s uneasy and irregular. If you liked the score of It Follows you’ll like this one.

Where this film really shines is in its direction. I love a film that can create tension from almost nothing. With a simple story and minimal plot I was kept on the edge of my seat – threats come and go, the house is plunged in and out of darkness, Vincent’s tortured mind hurls him back and forth between soundness and derangement. All the while, we never know if any of these threats are real or just in his head. And that’s why it’s brilliant – through the lens we are made to feel exactly how Vincent feels: frightened, frustrated, and paranoid.

I mention the minimal plot because this review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t say outright that this isn’t a film for everyone. Some will find it boring – it’s inevitable. And I don’t think that’s entirely unjust. Despite enjoying it immensely, the crawling pace of the film makes it unlikely that I’ll ever view it a second time.

And if I ever did come close to watching it again, there’s something else that would remind me not to, and that’s [extremely minor spoiler] the ending. I won’t say what it is, but it wasn’t satisfying because it felt forced and weak.

Still, Disorder is a film I really enjoyed despite some of its issues. Rarely is such great tension built from little more than a character’s perspective. Along with the paranoia, darkness, and location, the film feels almost Hitchcockian.

It’s not one I’d recommend to everyone – it can be slow and the plot stays mostly out of the picture. But if a paranoia-driven story centred around a turbulent, troubled character makes your palms sweat, go and see it.

7-8

(GRADES: Both are out of 10. The left is an objective score based on its artistic merit, the right is how much I personally enjoyed it.)

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