Shattered Image

REVIEW
Prolific Chilean-born filmmaker Ruiz, known for his cryptic but visually stunning surrealistic tales, is in an unusually muted mood with this intermittently involving English-language thriller of a woman haunted by troubling dreams and a split identity. Parillaud plays two aspects of the same character -- is she the professional killer paid to kill antique storeowner Baldwin or is she the beautiful but somnambulistic bride to the seemingly loving Baldwin? These two personas intermingle and then clash during what is either the couple's Caribbean honeymoon or when she is stalking her prey. At its best, Ruiz creates a beguiling puzzle infused with fear, deception, violence and eventually murder. But this psychological mystery-drama is Ruiz-lite and seems to be a thinly veiled rip-off of Hitchcock's Vertigo. Exotic settings and steamy sex scenes are offset by Parillaud's monotone, French-accented English and Ruiz's clunky approach.