The Woman in the Fifth

Polish writer and director Pawel Pawlikowski's fourth feature is an uneven psychological thriller. An American writer moves to Paris to be with his estranged wife and daughter but becomes unhinged after meeting a mysterious British woman. Pawlikowski leaves a lot for the audience to figure which can be frustrating or fascinating but not both. While there are clues here and there, the ambiguity in scene after scene leads from one question to another which hurts the film. Ethan Hawke stars with a solid performance along with the always terrific Kristin Scott Thomas and Joanna Kulig amongst others. 1001 Films' coverage of films on DVD.