13 Tzameti (***1/2)

? A broke handyman overhears mysterious conversations by his employer that seem to involve a money-making scheme. He heads for a secret assignation in the employer’s stead, not knowing what awaits. The story moves from a hazy beginning to an all-too-clear conclusion. The French-Georgian film won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

+ The black-and-white movie makes a virtue of deliberate minimalism. Some creepy music and sound effects set the mood. The structure is reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s famous story “The Lottery,” which seems to describe an ordinary ritual and only becomes horrifying as the reader realizes the pointless cruelty being described. The main character is basically an audience stand-in. He’s an ordinary guy who faces extreme danger the way most people do. They try to escape. You learn just enough about him and the other characters as is necessary to understand the story. There is relatively little dialogue.

- Alfred Hitchcock would seem one obvious inspiration for first-time writer-director Géla Babluani, but the movie lacks much of a psychological dimension. Then again, the film is trying to make you feel like you’re in the situation rather than think about the characters, and it does that expertly.

= ***1/2 I’m being deliberately vague about the plot, since knowing as little as possible is helpful. For people who don’t mind a story that’s somewhat disturbing, but not graphic, this is well worth an hour and a half.

IMDb link