It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

"Don't Look Back" is decidedly not for all tastes: impatient non-thinkers who want everything handed to them on a silver platter need not apply. Writer-director Marina de Van certainly does not make it easy on the audience: she never shows the heroine's hallucinations from an "objective" point-of-view, so that we can easily tell what's real and what's not. Instead, she films them in a matter-of-fact way - we see what she sees, we hear what she hears. My personal "reading" of the film (and there can certainly be more than one), and also a reminder for when things get too strange, is that nothing supernatural occurs in the film; it's all psychological. Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci (both of them still highly desirable at 40+, I might add) appear to be playing the same character (and they do it excellently), but only one of them is "really real"; her perception of people (including herself) and things around her occasionally changes based on what she feels, what she learns, what she remembers. "Don't Look Back" is also a great example of creative (and non-redundant) use of computer effects, helping with some remarkable face transformations. The film is not perfect: it's quite slow and a few things are never explained. But it invites you to think and theorize - and such films are becoming more and more rare these days. *** out of 4.

***LOTS OF SPOILERS***Okay, like a lot of the reviewers on here, this move left me very frustrated and confused by the end. Even if you were to believe the supposed explanation of the plot, there's still huge amounts of events that make absolutely no sense and are never explained. 1. when she sees her young self for the first time, why is her young self hit by a car? (not the near miss, but later in the background)2. What are the hand signals all about??? They never even attempt to try to explain this!3. Her sons mole, why in god's name would it move? Even if she was seeing him as her little brother, which I guess is what they were trying to convey? but still, why would the mole move from one place to another?4. What's with the table? They make this seem so relevant in the beginning and NEVER explain it. 5. Why would she imagine her brother as her husband?? The list goes on and on... This movie was basically a less interesting David Lynch plot line minus the intriguing camera work. It tries to explain itself too little to make it make sense and too much to make it truly weird and Lynch-ian.Other major flaws: In the beginning there's not nearly enough detail showed of the apartment to even pick up on what exactly is changing. The ending when the two women are writing together makes no sense at all. Is she the ghost of the blonde girl or her new self?? Seriously? No, no matter how you try to explain this movie, it doesn't make sense.

Sophie Marceau is one of my favourite actresses and is probably the only reason I gave this film a rating of 3.As far as the plot is concerned, I found it far too confusing and complicated to follow. It starts out promising enough when Jeanne starts seeing things that seem odd, and one is left wondering how the story will develop. But when she herself transforms into a completely different woman, that's when I, quite frankly, "lost the plot". I quite simply don't get it.I do like films where things don't always seem what they are (and French directors are in my view especially good at this), and where the story can be interpreted in different ways ("Anthony Zimmer", also featuring Sophie Marceau, is a prime example and in my eyes actually a masterpiece in the psychological thriller genre). But here, the story seems flawed and over-complicated, with no satisfactory resolution.

Many angles are possible to represent personality disorders. Delivering an exciting movie with this subject is a challenge which I believe writer/director Marina de Van succeeded with beautifully. The tension and attention span gradually increase as does the spectator disorientation with subtly changing details to full decors. The physical changes are superbly rendered and here again the spectator starts to loose his/her reference points. In other words, we are inside Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci and move with her/them to try and understand. Both actresses perform splendidly and beyond feeling for their life's search, one leaves the movie with a strong bond for both personalities. In summary, I liked the movie for the storyline, the subtle crescendo along the time line, the actresses performance and the total attention span to try and understand (if I had been part of their life, I would have tried to help, but probably to no avail). I am a little sad for the low rating (6 at the time of this review).