Desire That Dismantles Everything

Read Time:5 Minute, 13 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Visions
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Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 2h 07m
Director(s): Yann Gozlan
Writer(s): Michel Fessler, Aurélie Valat, Jean-Baptiste Delafon
Cast: Diane Kruger, Mathieu Kassovitz, Marta Nieto
Where to Watch: in select theaters & on digital VOD December 12, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: Some thrillers build their suspense through high-speed velocity, while others rely on the slow, deliberate destabilization of a character’s life. VISIONS falls into the second category, focusing on how a single encounter fractures the protagonist's worldview and pushes her toward an emotional and psychological unraveling. The film follows Estelle, an accomplished airline captain whose seemingly grounded life begins to shift after she crosses paths with Ana, a person from her past. What starts as a rediscovery of buried attraction quickly becomes a pressure point that distorts her life, her relationships, and ultimately her sense of what is real.

Diane Kruger anchors the film with a performance that understands restraint. Her portrayal of Estelle is layered, grounded in quiet shifts rather than big dramatic swings. She plays someone competent and composed, but whose certainty is gradually eroded by feelings she thought were resolved long ago. The character’s unraveling works because Kruger never overplays it; instead, she lets tension settle into gestures, silences, and reactions. This approach gives the film greater authenticity than it might otherwise have, especially as the story leans into psychological ambiguity.

Yann Gozlan directs with a clear eye for atmosphere. He emphasizes symmetry, isolation, and clean visual lines, using controlled camera work to support the film’s sense of unease. His style reflects the protagonist’s internal rigidity — a life lived through order, routine, and discipline — making the disruptions feel sharper when they arrive. There’s a coldness to the environments he chooses: wide, immaculate interiors, smooth textures, flight simulators, and sterile professional settings. This aesthetic reinforces Estelle’s desire for control and makes the emotional fissures more visible as that control slips.

Much of the film’s early tension comes from the contrast between Estelle’s discipline and the emotional chaos she begins to experience. Her life with her husband, Guillaume, appears strong, loving, and stable, yet the film shows how quickly stability can be disrupted when unresolved desire resurfaces. The dynamic between Kruger and Kassovitz helps sell this tension; his calm, grounded energy provides a tangible reference point for what Estelle stands to lose. Marta Nieto, playing Ana, adds the unpredictable element. Her presence is enigmatic without being unnecessarily mysterious — she carries an energy that complicates Estelle’s life simply by existing within it again.

The film operates within the tradition of psychological thrillers, in which perception becomes unreliable, pushing both the character and the viewer into a space where certainty dissolves. VISIONS uses this framework, but not without limitations. The story draws from familiar genre territory: blurred realities, unreliable perspective, symbolic imagery, and emotional displacement. Some elements feel recognizable enough that seasoned viewers may predict certain turns before they happen, slightly reducing the overall impact.

One of the film’s greatest strengths is its use of immersion. Sound design plays a significant role in heightening tension, with distortions, echoes, and atmospheric cues contributing to the protagonist’s growing disorientation. The cinematography also elevates the experience, particularly in scenes involving flight simulations or dreamlike transitions. These sequences bridge the gap between the real and the imagined without leaning into excessive surrealism. They add texture to Estelle’s inner world and build suspense that complements the story.

The film is engaging because its core is character-driven. Estelle’s journey is not about solving an external mystery but confronting the fractures within her own identity and choices. Her conflict drives the story more than any puzzle-box structure. That focus keeps the film grounded even when the plot leans into heightened storytelling.

The pacing, at over two hours, is deliberate. Some viewers may find the length a struggle, especially during a few repetitive sequences that reinforce Estelle’s destabilization without adding new depth. While the measured approach can be effective, trimming certain stretches would have tightened the emotional and thematic momentum. The film maintains enough intrigue and performance strength to carry the runtime without feeling sluggish.

A film that succeeds on several fronts — performance, mood, direction, and tension. VISIONS works as a character-driven psychological thriller anchored by Kruger’s performance and depth. The atmosphere is compelling, the emotional stakes are clear, and the film carries a confident tone that makes it absorbing even when the story becomes unwieldy.

VISIONS is a solid, engaging thriller that explores how quickly a structure can collapse when desire, memory, and suppressed emotion intersect. Gozlan’s direction emphasizes the fragility of certainty, Kruger delivers one of her strongest offerings in recent years, and the film maintains a grip on tension even when its narrative becomes tangled. It’s imperfect but effective, ambitious even when it stumbles, and ultimately worthwhile for anyone who enjoys thrillers built on psychological erosion rather than spectacle.

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[photo courtesy of DARK SKY FILMS]

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