The Double Hour is the directorial debut of Giuseppe Capotondi, an Italian fashion photographer and music video director (he's collaborated with, among others, Keane, Melanie C, and Our Lady Peace). The film, clearly inspired by vintage Hitchcock and Polanski thrillers, centers on Sonia (Ksenia Rappoport), a melancholy chambermaid who, with a degree of reluctance, attends a speed dating event. There she meets Guido (Filippo Timi), an ex-cop and widower. A hesitant relationship begins to blossom between the two wounded souls until an idyllic afternoon jaunt into the forest is interrupted by a violent crime. To say more would be to flirt with spoilers, but the film then becomes a twisty, at times surreal experience where every allegiance is tested and nothing is what it seems.

There are several major twists in the screenplay by Alessandro Fabbri, Ludovica Rampoldi, and Stefano Sard. As is the case with many films hinging on whiplash-inducing, what-is-real? turns in the plot, The Double Hour is more fun to watch--Capotondi at times builds almost unbearable suspense--than to reflect on. The experience seems relatively slight in hindsight.

Not slight at all, however, are the lead performances. Rappoport's is a Natalie Portman in Black Swan type turn, constantly in emotional overdrive, the line between sanity and madness going in and out of focus. She's very engaging to watch, as is the Javier Bardem-esque Timi.

B+