10 Outstanding French Films You've Probably Never Heard Of

6. Twentynine Palms (2003) - Bruno Dumont

Another work of art by Bruno Dumont, Twentynine Palms follows a Hollywood photographer named David scouting for film locations with his Russian girlfriend Katje. As David speaks no Russian and Katje speaks very little English, the couple talks very little and communicates mostly through tender smiles, caresses and copious amounts of explicit sex. As the couple's journey progresses, their relationship becomes under increasing duress. After one argument at a motel, Katje storms out only to be terrified by passing cars and finding refuge back into David's arms. It is clear by now that the couple are strangers in a strange land; a country in and of themselves, threatened and pursued by obscure outside forces whose presence grows stronger until the film's harsh, extraordinarily violent conclusion. Twentynine Palms is at its core a horror film in the vein of The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Deliverance, in which urban residents are confronted with incarnations of the worst rural stereotypes imaginable. In this case, the threat isn't a defined "other" so much as the personification of their own fears and fractures. It is a mesmerizing nightmare of a film, particularly recommendable to horror fans thirsting for something new.