The Unlikely Girl

Enjoying a reign of leisure at her family’s summerhouse in Valence, France, Cécile (Hande Kodja, equally alluring and enigmatic ) lounges around the pool and makes less-than-subtle overtures to Luc (Pierre Boulanger), a childhood friend turned boy toy. However, her idyllic existence is severely impacted by the unannounced arrival of Jamie (Shane Lynch), a corn-fed All-American exchange student. Instantly offended by Jamie’s wholesomeness, and fiercely territorial of both her home and Luc, the ever-manipulative Cécile becomes spiteful and malicious. Somewhat surprisingly, Jamie proves more than willing to fight dirty.

At first glance, this seems like the sort of racy fluff you might stumble across when channel-surfing during the wee hours. However, first-time writer-director Wei Ling Chang channels something genuinely sinister in this sensual and involving thriller. Countless questions arise: Why is Cécile so different from the girl Luc remembers? Why does she evade her brother’s phone calls? Is there any truth to her intimations concerning her family’s sordid past? Or, can these claims simply be attributed to her credo, "If you believe it, it’s the truth." In searching for answers, Jamie—an architecture student who prizes symmetry above all else—becomes perilously entangled in a situation far more complex and distorted than a conventional love triangle.