Before The Winter Chill review

Spicing up a bourgeois relationship drama with the promise of thrills, writer/director Philippe Claudel’s third film can’t decide whether it wants to be Hidden or Looking For Hortense .

Surgeon Daniel Auteuil and Kristin Scott Thomas seem comfortably married, until ex-patient Leïla Bekhti starts sending him roses. “They’re flowers, not death threats,” he tuts, intrigued, then in trouble.

Though there’s plenty of thoughtful meditation, there’s also the faint whiff of middle-aged wish fulfilment. The result is elegant if frosty, and just a touch too long in the tooth.