Novelist Patricia Highsmith has proven fertile ground for filmmakers, from Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train to Anthony Minghella's Oscar nominated The Talented Mr Ripley. Psychological intrigue is at the heart of her work and as with Ripley, is most intriguing in that space formed when a married couple meet an opportunistic other. Collette and Chester MacFarland (Kirsten Dunst – On The Road and Viggo Mortenson – The Road) are that wealthy couple who are vacationing in Greece in the early 1960's. Fellow American Rydal (Oscar Isaac – Inside Lleywn Davis) singles them out, offering his assistance as a guide. Although it's clear both have an undisclosed back story, what is not clear is how far down the rabbit hole disclosure will drag them all.

Directed with considerable flair by Hossein Amini (his adaptation of Henry James' The Wings Of The Dove won an Oscar nomination), this pressure cooker thriller is a neatly crafted film. Athens, then rural Crete shine in a classically beautiful, ethereal fashion. It feels a little like high-brow Agatha Christie lifted from the 1970's, but with a greater degree of authenticity. And as the narrative stakes grow higher, so too does the film's emotional and intellectual grasp. Alberto Iglesias's delicate score is a fine match for the luminescent cinematography of Marcel Syskind; both bring another layer of sophistication to the experience.

“I thought no one would follow us,” says a distraught Collette when she learns her husband has just added murder to his litany of crimes. Clearly she knew more than she was letting on, opacity being one of the film's central themes. The MacFarland's are hiding from the law which soon becomes an opportunity for Rydall, a conman who plans riding their gravy train to the terminal. What he doesn't bargain on is the depth of Chester's suspicious nature, nor the man's capacity for dealing with interlopers. Particularly when they develop a fondness for his wife.

Although it lacks the satirical bite of Ripley, Amini stacks up a dangerously festering pile of jealousy, confusion, secrets and lies, turning The Two Faces of January into a gorgeously layered, old-fashioned thriller where double-crossing is only half the fun. Mortenson, Dunst and Isaac are all splendid in their roles, each hinting at unforeseen depths of amoral pragmatism that guides their character's troubled lives. Despite a missed beat in the final reel, the journey's pulsing rhythm makes for suspense filled and first rate drama.

// COLIN FRASER

Previewed at The Reel Room, Sydney, on 4 June 2014