‘Double Lover’ Trailer: Francois Ozon’s Psychosexual Thriller Gets Ready For Valentine’s Day

During the ’90s, erotic thrillers were part of the stable of pictures Hollywood would churn out each year. The mid-budget efforts were provocative, but in honesty, rarely of top shelf quality. As the demands for bigger blockbusters, with four quadrant appeal have grown, the studio system has largely abandoned the genre. However, the arthouse is still willing to take some risks, and Francois Ozon dives into the psychosexual thriller pool with “Double Lover,” which should well satisfy fans of Alfred Hitchcock and Paul Verhoeven.

Starring Marine Vacth, Jérémie Renier, Jacquline Bisset, Myriam Boyer, and Dominique Reymond, and loosely based on the book “Lives of the Twins” by Joyce Carol Oates, the story follows a young woman who falls for her psychoanalyst, only to discover he’s hiding a terrible secret. To say any more would ruin the fun. Here’s the official synopsis:

Chloé, (Young and Beautiful’s Marine Vacth) is a fragile young woman who falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul (Jérémie Renier,) soon after starting therapy to try and uncover the roots of her mysterious symptoms. Several months later the couple moves in together, but Chloé discovers that her lover is keeping part of his identity a secret. 

Featuring some truly eyebrow raising sequences (it’s a bit of a surprise this didn’t cause more of a stir last year at Cannes), “Double Lover” rolls out in limited release starting on February 14th.