psychological horror
Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...
film directed by
Daniel Grou
Daniel Grou (born August 19, 1967), frequently credited as Podz, is a Canadian film and television director, director of six feature films as well as episodes in dozen TV series.
Biography
Daniel Grou was born in Montreal, Canada. He has a ba ...
and starring Claude Legault. The screenplay was written by
Patrick Senécal
Patrick Senécal is a French-Canadian writer and scenarist known for his horror oriented drama novels.
Senécal is well known in Québec for his unique dark genre; his work has often been compared to that of Stephen King. Three of his novels wer ...
and based on his novel ''Les sept jours du talion''.
Plot
The ordinary life of surgeon Bruno Hamel ( Claude Legault) is destroyed when his daughter Jasmine (Rose-Marie Coallier) is raped and murdered in a park. Upon learning that the police apprehended the prime suspect, laborer Anthony Lemaire (Martin Dubreuil), Hamel plans to take revenge. He abducts Lemaire while he is being brought to his trial by drugging the officer driving the transport vehicle and brings him to a secluded cabin. Using a remote-controlled computer to conceal his location, Hamel calls the police to inform them that he plans to murder Lemaire in seven days, the seventh day being Jasmine's birthday. After killing him, Hamel will give himself up to the police.
Police detective Mercure (
Rémy Girard
Rémy Girard (born August 10, 1950) is a Canadian actor and former television host from Quebec.Gaetan Charlebois"Girard, Rémy" ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', December 5, 2023.
Early life
Born in Jonquière, he is the son of politician Fern ...
) leads the investigation to discover Hamel's whereabouts. Mercure himself suffered a personal tragedy when his wife was killed during a grocery store robbery. Though Mercure acknowledges that the imprisonment of his wife's killer has not made his life more bearable, he becomes determined to stop Hamel before he commits murder.
Over the course of the seven days, Hamel brutally tortures Lemaire. Initially frightened and in incredible pain, Lemaire starts to accept his fate and mocks Hamel for not enjoying himself as he inflicts painful injuries on him. Lemaire eventually admits to raping and murdering Jasmine, along with three other girls. Hamel contacts a news station to have the families of Lemaire's victims informed about his captive's confession. When the mother of one of Lemaire's victims disapproves of his actions, Hamel kidnaps her and forces her to see Lemaire.
By the seventh day, the police locate Hamel's cabin. Hamel gives himself up and lets Lemaire live. As the police lead him away, a reporter asks him if he still believes vengeance is right. Hamel responds with a "No." However, when asked if he regrets what he has done, he gives the same answer.
Rémy Girard
Rémy Girard (born August 10, 1950) is a Canadian actor and former television host from Quebec.Gaetan Charlebois"Girard, Rémy" ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', December 5, 2023.
Early life
Born in Jonquière, he is the son of politician Fern ...
as Hervé Mercure
*
Martin Dubreuil
Martin Dubreuil (born May 26, 1972) is a Canadian actor and musician from Quebec.Fanny Mallette as Sylvie Hamel
* Rose-Marie Coallier as Jasmine Hamel
*
Alexandre Goyette
Alexandre Goyette (born April 11, 1979) is a Canadian actor and writer from Quebec, most noted as the writer of the stage play ''King Dave'' and the screenwriter and star of its 2016 film adaptation.Brendan Kelly"Podz's King Dave: One-shot film ...
as Michel Boisevert
*
Dominique Quesnel
Dominique Quesnel (born March 8, 1964) is a Canadian actress and musician from Quebec.Patricia Belzil"Dominique Quesnel" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', October 24, 2011. She is most noted for her performance in the 2012 film '' The Torrent (Le To ...
as Maryse Pleau
* Pascale Delhaes as Diane Masson
* Pascal Contamine as Gaétan Morin
* Daniel Desputeau as Gilles, Médecin
Release and reception
The film premiered on 22 January 2010 at
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
, as World Premiere.
Upon release, critics reacted favorably towards the film. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 80%, based on 15 reviews.