''The Stone Council'' () is a 2006 French

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

. Based on a novel by Jean-Christophe Grangé the film depicts an inter-continental, mystical conspiracy unfolding following the adoption of a boy from

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

Plot

Bellucci plays Diane Siprien, a translator, who adopts a Mongolian child name Liu-San with the help of her friend Sybille. Years later, a bruise appears on the boy's chest, and the two women suffer nightmares. Diane is dispatched on assignment, and Liu goes comatose while in Sybille's temporary care. He begins speaking in an unknown tongue. As Diane tries to place the language, mysterious murders began occurring in her orbit. She discovers the boy comes from an ancient, mystic Mongolian tribe — the Tseven — who want the boy returned to them for a religious prophecy involving the Council of the Stone.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

called the film a "French Sixth Sense", and a "generously budgeted piece of esoterica" that "won't be enough to scare up an audience, unless it's a very young one that hasn't heard all these cliches before." Screen Daily similarly found an American parallel, the

Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''—''T ...

, and called the film "overwrought".

References

External links

* 2006 films Films set in Mongolia French thriller films 2000s French films Films directed by Guillaume Nicloux Films based on French novels Films based on works by Jean-Christophe Grangé {{2000s-France-film-stub