Cédric Kahn is a connoisseur of perverse human emotions, as he proved in his tale of obsession L’Ennui, and a master of dramatic tension: see his nail-biting Simenon adaptation Red Lights. He’s on equally merciless form in Regrets, a sort of anti-romance that shows why you can never go home again. When architect Mathieu (Yvan Attal) returns to his home town, he catches sight of former girlfriend Maya (Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi). The two find that, despite the intervening years, they can’t keep away from each other – which proves bad news for everyone, including the pair’s respective spouses (played by Arly Jover and singer-songwriter Philippe Katerine, as Maya’s boorish husband). Matching the mood of a suspense thriller with the insights of the traditional French adultery drama, the somewhat Chabrolian Regrets is a taut and discomforting film that constantly undermines expectations and that might well have viewers examining their own mid-life regrets. Leads Attal and Bruni-Tedeschi are at their best in a sheened, sophisticated psychological entertainment – although it’s possibly not a film to see with your ex. —bfi
