Secret défense (1998)

Sylvie (Sandrine Bonnaire), a laboratory technician living a single life, is visited at work by her brother Paul (Grégoire Colin), who is younger than her and psychologically fragile. She notices that he is carrying a revolver. Taken aback, she asks him to explain himself. After some hesitation, he tells her about their father’s death five years earlier, when he was running a large company. According to Paul, their father did not throw himself under a train, as the investigation concluded; he was murdered, pushed onto the tracks by his deputy, Walser (Jerzy Radziwilowicz), who wanted his job. As proof, Paul shows his sister a photograph dated the day and time of their father’s death, showing the two men on the platform, even though Walser had claimed he was not there. Paul tells his sister that he is firmly determined to kill Walser, and she tries to talk him out of it. A short time later, Sylvie is visited at home by Véronique, Walser’s secretary (Laure Marsac), who tells her that Paul went to the office and confronted his boss, threatening him but not killing him. After meeting Walser herself at his office, Sylvie is convinced of his guilt. However, worried about her brother because of his fragility, she decides to eliminate Walser herself. The events then continue to surprise the audience, all the more so as the rest of the film reveals information about Paul and Sylvie’s mother, as well as a younger sister who disappeared.