DISORDER New Auteurs

In Alice Winocour’s sophomore feature DISORDER, the French filmmaker combines astute sound design with perceptive camera movements to externalize symptoms of PTSD, as ex-soldier Vincent (Matthias Schoenaerts, RUST AND BONE, AFI FEST 2012) becomes locked in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with ski-masked home invaders at a wealthy estate, where he is the only overnight security guard. While creating a destabilizing, sensorial thriller about a male protagonist’s hyperactive mental state, Winocour also takes a distinct stylistic departure from her debut feature AUGUSTINE, where she assumed a more classical approach to mental dysfunction set against a feminine historical context. The resulting work is bolder, with a topical narrative burrowed in irrepressible violence as a consequence of a divisive world climate. DISORDER played the Un Certain Regard section at 2015 Cannes Film Festival. – Wonsun Choi