Movie review: I, Anna

(15)

Suspects and the city: Gabriel Byrne's detective becomes involved with Charlotte Rampling in the London-set 'I, Anna'

Barnaby Southcombe’s very promising debut feature stars his mother, Charlotte Rampling, as a lonely woman in late middle age, reaching out for love.

Her dating adventures go disastrously wrong when a man she meets is killed and she is implicated in his death. Southcombe makes excellent use of his London locations (cavernous hotels, department stores, the sprawl of the Barbican) to show just how oppressive and alienating the city can be. Gabriel Byrne plays the crumpled detective who is both investigating Anna and is drawn to her romantically. The film is far stronger on atmosphere and performance than it is on its plotting, which becomes ever more stretched and improbable.