'Stillwater': an American loses himself in the south of France

Tom McCarthy, who won Oscars with the journalist epic Spotlight, was loosely inspired by the Amanda Knox case for this grim, weighty thriller. The American student was locked up in an Italian prison for almost four years on suspicion of murder but was eventually acquitted. But that is no more than a starter.

Matt Damon plays a cliché American who travels to Marseille to free his daughter who has been accused of murder. He is hopelessly lost until he bumps into an actress and single mother (Camille Cottin). The chaos is great, the sun-drenched, noisy Marseille a splendid setting.

STILLWATER
US, dir.: Tom McCarthy, act.: Matt Damon, Camille Cottin, Abigail Breslin