Over the course of a three-decade career, François Ozon has gone to many distinct places, both geographically and psychologically, and his films span a wide berth when it comes to genre and specific details of the narratives. We may normally associate him with more lavish, detailed productions, but there is a side to the director that is far more challenging, with some of his earlier works being insidious, dark and deeply unsettling, which indicates that his formative years as a filmmaker was spent engaging in a more sordid style of storytelling. This is made quite clear in the form of See the Sea (French: Regarde la mer), in which Ozon tells the story of a young British woman living in an idyllic part of seaside France, taking care of her daughter while her husband is away on business, only to find herself encountering a slightly sinister vagabond who forces herself into the family’s life, at first without too much reason for concern, but very soon the consequences of one’s kindness begin to emerge, which adds a level of despair into an already very cold and bewildering narrative. A strange and offbeat psychological thriller that is very much within Ozon’s wheelhouse, both narratively and visually, See the Sea is a peculiar work in numerous ways and proves that even at his most simple, the director was capable of some unquestionably strange choices, especially in terms of the level of detail with which he tells these stories, which is very often the root of some of the more fascinating discussions that situate him as one of our most intriguing contemporary filmmakers, even when undeniably doing something slightly smaller and far more intimate, as is the case with this film.

Looking at the work Ozon produced in the 1990s, it was a far cry from the more polished, established filmmaker we have come to admire – to be clear, he always possessed a lot of talent, and he has not descended into the realm of being predictable (in fact, he is one of the few modern filmmakers that can genuinely surprise viewers, every film he produces being remarkable and different in some way), but rather that he has found his voice after a decade in which he constantly experimented with styles of filmmaking and methods of storytelling. See the Sea functions like a very early dress rehearsal for some of the director’s later films, as well as employing elements of his previous ones, meaning that it can be viewed as a bridging work, combining the darkness of a film like A Summer Dress (or the forthcoming Criminal Lovers)with the striking beauty of Under the Sand or Swimming Pool, two films that are similar in their aesthetic and manner of approaching certain subjects. Taking place in the gorgeous landscapes of Île d’Yeu, which has some of the most striking beaches one will ever see, the film aligns itself with Ozon’s tendency to make some of the most challenging and provocative films while setting them within beautiful parts of the world, which both highlights the natural splendour of these places, while also emphasizing that perversion and malice lurk in even the most peaceful of locations. It shows a different side of the country and its people, and there is always something to be said about how Ozon approaches the subject visually, the film captures the bleak beauty of the natural world, and the setting See the Sea on an Island emphasizes the feeling of isolation, which only amplifies the darkness of the story.

Ozon seems to have quite a firm grasp on the concept of the idyllic psychological thriller since it is a sub-genre in which he regularly worked, almost to the point of it becoming one of his defining qualities. Many have compared See the Sea with the films of Alfred Hitchcock, with much of the promotion at the time making it seem like Ozon was actively pursuing a pastiche of the great Master of Suspense, a theory that is not entirely unfounded when you look at the film, as well as some of the others he made around the time – he is never one to avoid paying homage to the great masters of their craft when it is appropriate. This comparison does have some level of credibility, especially in the marriage of style and story, which is often one of the most challenging aspects of the filmmaking process to get right, but of which Ozon regularly makes simple work, even in his earlier years as a filmmaker. This film is not particularly easy, and it is one of the more unnerving of the director’s storied career, primarily because of how it leaves so many things unsaid, forcing the viewer to not only encounter the sinister surprises that come as quite a shock (since there is very little indication offered in terms of the direction the film will be going, and layers of impenetrable foreshadowing that only becomes obvious in hindsight), but also determine their interpretation of the story, which is unsettling but deeply hypnotic. It is a film with a firm understanding of how to pique the viewer’s curiosity (which will undoubtedly be far more heightened based on how this film functions), as well as the knowledge of how to maintain our attention, even if it is bewildering and challenging to the point of sometimes being outright unpleasant, which is exactly the sentiment that Ozon seemed to be hoping to capture.

See the Sea is not character-based in the traditional sense, but it is a film with a strong understanding of certain issues, which are continuously explored throughout the fabric of the film, represented through the two main characters. Outside of the infant (who remains relatively wordless, and essentially just plays a part in the final shocking revelation), the unnamed husband who arrives in the final moments and serves as our surrogate for this harrowing reveal, and a couple of incidental characters that appear in the background and have very little impact on the narrative, the film focuses on only two individuals, a British expatriate trying to settle down on this beautiful and peaceful island, but whose efforts are disrupted by the sudden arrival of this French vagabond, who decides to drift into the life of this family, with horrifying intentions. It takes a lot of work to play characters that stand alongside Ozon’s visual approach – much of this film is about capturing a specific tone, which he does through the cinematography and other creative elements, and it seems like not much is done to give these characters nuance. This is until we realize there is something much deeper to the characterization of these people. Ozon’s films rarely play by the rules, and this often extends to his actors, who seem to be willing to undergo the psychological and emotional ordeals that often come with playing these characters. Credit has to go to both Sasha Hails and Marina de Van, who anchor the film, and even when they seem to be pushed to the boundaries of their sanity, there is value in how they portray these roles. They are not traditional performances and See the Sea is not a showcase for its actors, but this doesn’t prevent many incredible choices from being made in terms of how these characters are constructed, especially in how so much of the plot depends on the expressivity of the actors.

There is always value in unsettling audiences, granted they are aware of this fact and are both psychologically and emotionally prepared for what they are about to witness. I’m not usually one to emphasize pre-film preparations in terms of knowing what you are getting yourself into (especially since a lot of what makes many films effective is the element of surprise), but in the case of a film like See the Sea, there is always value in realizing that this is not a film that exists to entertain or inform, but rather to be an artistic experiment by a director who possesses a profound fascination with the darker side of humanity, and who shows very little hesitation in leaping into the unknown for the sake of exploring his artistic and philosophical quandaries, even if this means using some deeply disturbing imagery and establishing a truly sinister mood, which creates an atmosphere of tension and despair, from which many of the film’s most interesting ideas can be extrapolated and developed. See the Sea is not an easy film on a conceptual level, and even though it runs at less than an hour, it is still quite challenging. However, this is not the meditative, quietly beautiful depiction of the human condition we usually expect from Ozon – it is an engaging but terrifying psychological thriller with broad overtures of horror and sexual melodrama, the weaving together of genres being amongst the film’s most fascinating features, and unquestionably one of the primary reasons Sea the Sea feels like such an engaging but deeply disturbing addition to the director’s career, while still proving his perverse and provocative brilliance, especially in his formative years, where he was still developing his voice as a storyteller, a fact that this film makes extremely clear, for better or worse.