Avis des critiques

The set-up of "The One I Love," Charlie McDowell's directorial debut, starringMark Duplass and Elizabeth Moss, is filled with tremendous possibilities, all of which are explored throughout the film. The set-up, reminiscent of some of Hitchcock's films, works like a well-oiled stopwatch: once the situation starts, it cannot be stopped. The film unfolds with a sense of inevitability, and while the events are odd, they never lose their logic.

Toward the end, however, what's going on in the guest cottage suddenly becomes a lot more specific. This revelation retroactively makes sense of what had seemed like a flaw, which is that Duplass and Moss, at times, give performances that are in completely different registers... Trouble is, it also raises a ton of practical questions that undermine what had been the film's primary theme.

The modestly sized puzzler "The One I Love"... detonates a few bombs, but also keeps a few ticking until the end. The unpromising setup is as banal as someone else's shrink session. What quickly pulls you in, though, are the appealing stars and mysterioso circumstances that their characters... are sucked into as the story morphs into a quagmire of narrative uncertainty, marital gamesmanship and speculative foolishness.

For a high-concept effort like this one, the literalization of the endgame is a bit of a cop-out. And the darkly humorous, metaphysical plot is so tension-filled, it doesn't need the redundant accompaniment of a musical score conveying exactly what's onscreen. Still, the film delivers on its most crucial idea by being an inventive relationship dramedy with actors who handle the dual challenge thrown at them with distinguished poise.