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Backyard
Mexico, 2009, 122 min.
This chilling thriller, from the director of The Crime of Father Amaro, dramatizes the tragic true story of border town Juárez, Mexico, where since the mid-'90s thousands of women have gone missing or turned up as sun-burnt corpses in the desert.... more
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Chameleon
Hungary, 2008, 104 min.
A suspenseful psychological thriller, Chameleon centers on a clever con man who targets lonely, disillusioned women, playing on their romantic fantasies. But can the con man be conned if love gets in the way?... more
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The Eclipse
Ireland, 2009, 88 min.
Caught in an unlikely love triangle, a widower with two young kids (Ciarán Hinds, Munich), a beautiful author of supernatural fiction (Iben Hjejle, High Fidelity), and a pompous pop novelist (Aidan Quinn) are forced to deal with their own ghosts.... more
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Sweden, 2009, 152 min.
From the best-selling novel, this gripping thriller brings to mind both The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en in its tale of an investigative journalist trying to crack a 40-year-old murder that may have been the work of a still-at-large serial killer.... more
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Glorious 39
United Kingdom, 2009, 130 min.
Set in the days leading up to World War II, Glorious 39 is a complex mystery built around Britain's secret plot to bargain with Hitler to stay out of the war. Uncovering secrets about her upstanding ruling-class family, one strong young woman finds herself in terrible danger.... more
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Harry Brown
United Kingdom, 2009, 97 min.
When the escalating gang violence of his public-housing neighborhood leads to the death of his best friend, aging Royal Marines veteran Harry Brown's (Michael Caine) contempt for the ineffectual forces of the local law sees him turn vigilante with devastating results.... more
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Lucky Country
Australia, 2009, 96 min.
A gripping thriller set in 1902 in the wild Australian outback, where a desperate family on the brink of ruin find themselves turning on each other after three strangers arrive at their farm with rumors of gold.... more
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Mother
South Korea, 2009, 128 min.
Korean master Bong Joon-Ho's follow-up to The Host is an equally exhilarating and blackly humorous work, this one a jaw-dropping melodrama about an obsessive mother fighting to prove that her emotionally stunted son is innocent of the brutal murder of a local girl.... more
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North Face
Austria, 2008, 126 min.
Based on a 1936 attempt by two Germans and two Austrians to be the first to scale the near-vertical Eiger North Face, the most dangerous unconquered rock face in the Alps, this grippingly staged mountain movie boasts plenty of white-knuckle thrills.... more
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Rabia
Spain, 2009, 89 min.
A gripping social thriller about two immigrants: a short-tempered construction worker and a live-in maid eking out a livelihood in Spain. A few weeks into their passionate relationship a tragic accident forces him to hide in her attic. Unbeknownst to her, he becomes a menacing ghost-like dweller.... more
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Reverse
Poland, 2009, 101 min.
A darkly comic story of three generations of Polish women and the mysterious young man whose presence sparks a series of surprising events that change all of their lives. Best Film, Actress, and Cinematography, Gdynia Film Festival; FIPRESCI Award, Warsaw Film Festival.... more
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Reykjavik-Rotterdam
Iceland, 2008, 88 min.
The principals of Jar City (PSIFF 2008) reunite in this tight thriller about an ex-con lured into one last job smuggling booze. This film is being remade as a vehicle for Mark Walhberg under the direction of current star Kormákur.... more
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Slovenian Girl
Slovenia, 2009, 90 min.
An amoral coed gets more than she bargains for when she tries prostitution as a shortcut to the good life. Centering on secrets, lies and a single-minded quest for money, this smoothly made drama starts as a thriller but later switches tracks.... more
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Terribly Happy
Denmark, 2009, 102 min.
A Danish village hides as many secrets as the nearby bog in this entertaining thriller about the universal nature of compromise and corruption. Full of surprising twists, Terribly Happy plays with genres as expertly as do the Coen brothers or David Lynch.... more
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Wake in Fright
Australia, 1971, 108 min.
A true milestone in Australian film history, this dread-filled 1971 drama is set in a rough outback mining town where a marooned teacher finds himself at odds with the xenophobic locals. Tensions quickly escalate until the inevitable explosion comes to pass.... more
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What You Don't See
Germany, 2009, 89 min.
Vaguely reminiscent of François Ozon's See the Sea, this impressive psychological thriller about a sensitive German adolescent grappling with his father's suicide and his mother's new boyfriend plays out against the eerie woods and fantastic rock formations of the Brittany Coast.... more
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