Deaf secretary Carla (Devos) is tired of being treatedÌýas aÌýdogsbody at the property development company, where herÌýoffice colleagues invariably take the credit for her hard work. Socially too she's cast in a Cinderella role, babysitting for her friend Annie (Bonamy), whilst the latter hits the town.
Salvation, or at least the chance of revenge, arrivesÌýin the form of Carla'sÌýnew work assistant, the greasy-haired, tattooed, ex-con Paul (Cassel). Utilizing her lip-reading skills, the duoÌýhatch a scheme to rob violent nightclub-owner MarchandÌý(Gourmet), who has already had Paul beaten up for defaulting on a debt.
"A love story in which the characters never make love", is how writer-director Jacques Audiard ("A Self-Made Hero", "See How They Fall") has described this inventive, genre-hopping thriller. ÌýFrom the outsetÌýAudiard manipulates the soundtrack toÌýimmerse us into Carla's fragile world, by switching her hearing-aids on and off. Nor is she a stereotypically saintly disabled character - embittered and jealous, she relishes the settling of old scores.Ìý
Stylishly composed byÌýdirector of photography Mathieu Vadepied, "Sur Mes Lèvres" is substantially more than a mere hommage to Hitchcock's "Rear Window" or Louis Malle's "Lift to the Scaffold", two films to which it bears certain narrative echoes.
Thanks to its suspenseful screenplay and toÌýthe impressive lead performances of Devos and Cassel, it becomes an absorbing character study of two lonely and fearfulÌýoutsider figures, who gradually recognize their mutual dependency.
In French with English subtitles.