Reflection in a Dead Diamond

The filmmakers behind Let the Corpses Tan (MIFF 2018) bring a touch of Dario Argento’s brutally surreal aesthetic to their homage to 60s-Bond-style sexy spy thrillers. Waves crash and the drinks fizz as a lonely old man (prolific Italian genre star Fabio Testi) lounges on the beach terrace of his luxurious hotel, nestled on the sparkling curve of the Côte d’Azur. But when the beautiful young woman he’s been ogling winds up dead by the water, time folds in on itself. A quest to uncover her killer ignites cascading flashes of his younger, sharp-suited, shooting days as a secret agent (now played by Yannick Renier) thwarting Fumetti neri-esque pulp fiction supervillains. Diamonds, leather and lashings abound as he battles the cobra’s kiss of shapeshifting agent Serpentik and teams up with glamorous, disco-ball-outfitted sidekick Moth. Chaos awaits in a casino’s gilded glimmer. In their latest feature, Belgian-based French filmmaking couple Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani have done for 007-style secret agent romps what they spectacularly achieved for spaghetti westerns in Let the Corpses Tan and avant-garde Italian horror in The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (MIFF 2018). Debuting in competition at Berlinale, Reflection in a Dead Diamond fuses eurotrash flesh onto giallo bones to breathe life into a deliriously entertaining, drop-dead-gorgeous pastiche. “An impeccably styled arthouse-grindhouse crossover … fleet, frothy and fun.” – IndieWire