Charles Cuvelier, a successful advertising executive in his fifties, a master in creating desires, dreams and disappointments: he can even make an old sock sexy or will convince you that life without frozen chickens is not one worth living. "Luxury appartment for single, well-situated gentleman. No dogsÒ. In fact, he only wanted to rent a flat. But when the lift suddenly gets stuck between the 3rd and 4th floors, Charles initially thinks that itÍs just a simple breakdown. In reality, though, the breakdown is not an accident, but the beginning of a game. What is being played? What are the stakes? Only the woman, who is looking at him provocatively from the half-landing, seems to know the rules of the game. She veers between cruelty and seduction as she stretches Charles to his very limits. He is alone, uncertain and no longer in a position to play the role of the man who is at one with him-self and the rest of the world. But is he ready to assume the role she has chosen for him? The film’s story is based on a novella by Henri-Frédéric Blanc. —german-films.de
