Reflection in a Dead Diamond

A retired, elegant ex-spy now in his seventies lives alone in a lavish Côte d'Azur hotel, carrying the habits and scars of a past life spent around cameras and danger. When the mysterious woman next door vanishes, his quiet routine is broken and memories, rumors and old collaborators start to surface. The film follows him as he sifts through faded film reels, hotel staff gossip and half-remembered encounters, blurring the line between actual events and imagined scenes from his own cinematic history. It keeps the reader guessing about who is real, who is acting, and how much the past shapes the present.

Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, the 2025 thriller features Fabio Testi as the older John Diman and Yannick Renier as his younger self, with Koen De Bouw and Thi-Mai Nguyen in supporting roles. The filmmakers lean into moody visuals and genre signals that reflect their previous arthouse work, placing a stylish, artificial sheen over the Riviera setting.

The movie’s aesthetic, with its neon reflections, mirrored rooms and film-within-film structure, has made it a talking point among fans of modern giallo and retro thrillers. Its title imagery and the hotel setting recur in discussions online, and the film’s mood pieces are often referenced when people compare contemporary thrillers that mix memory, cinema and unreliable narration.

Critical and audience reactions were mixed, averaging around a mid-range score that suggests appreciation for style more than plot clarity. Viewers who enjoy slow-burning mysteries and visual experimentation praised the atmosphere and performances, while others found the pacing and ambiguity frustrating. Thematically, the film is concerned with aging, identity, the ways art rewrites memory, and how a life spent performing can hollow out a sense of truth.

As of now, the film has not been widely reported as an awards contender, though it has prompted conversation within niche festival and cinephile circles rather than mainstream prize seasons.