UV - Deadly Seduction - DVD

Film: At the luxurious estate of a French corporate family, cultivated boredom dominates the daily routine. The two daughters (Laura Smet and Anne Caillon) bask their luxurious bodies in the glaring sun, while the parents (Jacques Dutronc and Marthe Keller) keep quiet. Then Boris (Nicolas Cazalé) shows up, claiming to be a friend of Filius Philip and to have been invited to the estate by him. Everyone is quickly enraptured by the stranger's charm, and he brings a lot of zest into the neat monotony. Only Philip's brother-in-law André-Pierre (Pascal Elbé) doesn't trust the newcomer, especially since there is no sign of Philip, with whom Boris supposedly wanted to meet. But whenever André-Pierre thinks he's on to Boris, he's one step ahead of him. But the designated company heir is clear: this hot summer will not have a good end.

With a story somewhat reminiscent of The Talented Mr. Ripley, with picturesque locations and a fine pinch of eroticism, UV - Deadly Seduction actually has what it takes to be a gripping and tingling thriller with high show and entertainment value. Unfortunately, this potential fails because of the half-baked staging. Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner knows how to make his actors look good. In itself, he lays the (false) tracks very cleverly in the story based on the bestseller by Serge Joncour. But there are too many elements that clearly mar the enjoyment.

There is the soundtrack, for one, which is used very penetratingly in some very important scenes and just comes across as exhausting. The motif of the glaring sun, which induces a certain inertia in the protagonists, apparently also has a very similar effect on the production. It would have been advisable if Gilles Paquet-Brenner had simply broken out of the inertia every now and then and picked up the pace a bit, thus also tightening the suspense screw a bit.

In addition to that, none of the characters seems really sympathetic. So a considerable distance is built up to the viewer, which doesn't really help the overall impression. So UV - Deadly Seduction is visually successful and can also entertain in some respects. However, the strenuously used film music and the arguably worn staging ruin the intrinsically engaging mood and the despite the blazing sun undercooled atmosphere in many moments.

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press DVD was available for the test, no judgment can be made at this point on the technical implementation of the film.

Extras: Also the bonus material could unfortunately not be sighted on the press DVD. Announced is the trailer and a making of with 63 minutes gratifyingly detailed.

Conclusion: UV - Deadly Seduction is a stylish thriller, whose visual and content strengths are weakened by a somewhat exhausting and strained production. Those who like French thrillers of a somewhat slower pace will certainly be able to discover a few good moments here. Overall, however, the film falls too far short of its potential to be truly convincing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp