L'heure zéro

L'heure zéro is directed by Pascal Thomas and is based on a novel by Agatha Christie.

In the novel we get to meet Miss Marple and also in the film made for TV: Marple: Towards Zero (2007) but in this film it's Le commissaire Martin Bataille (François Morel).

A group of people more or less connected to each other is invited to Camilla Tressilian's (Danielle Darrieux) summer villa but the sentiments among the guests are somewhat diversified, complicated by different relational circumstances.

One of the guests is an old friend of Camilla, the former lawyer (solicitor) Charles Trevoz (Jacques Sereys) and during the dinner he tells the story about one of his cases, concerning a young man who murdered a friend with a bow.
This was at the time regarded as an accident but he is convinced that it was delibaretely, also inclining that he knows a person who is able to commit a crime like this, only by looking into his or her eyes.
The guests wants to know who it was or if he can see in their eyes any sign of this character. He refuses however to undertake any kind of experiment.
Next day he is found dead.
A couple of days later Camilla Tressilian is also found dead and now Martin Bataille starts his investigation, although he's actually on vacation.

As always in a Christie-story the guilty is among the people present in a room or at the same spot, like in a house as in this case.
The situation is complicated by the fact that there are some people who now are in the position to inherit Camilla Tressilian and this cast a shadow over a number of people at the 'scene of the crime'.
The acting is good and although some changes in the names have been made (more French sounding as this is a French film), one recognizes the original characters.

In other roles we also see Laura Smet and Chiara Mastroianni (the perfect 'blending' of her mother and father).
On the contrary the story doesn't surprise us as a Christie-story should.
Usually one seldom know who is the guilty person or the guilty persons until the very end but in this case it' s rather obvious, even though the director try to make us confused.