Le Secret (1974)

Set in what appears to be a possible police state, a man (Jean Louis Trintignant) in what appears to be a mental asylum strangles a guard and escapes. In the secluded countryside, a couple take him in and while the man (Philippe Noiret) believes the escapee's story of being a political prisoner, the woman (Marlene Jobert) is not so convinced. Based on the novel LE COMPAGNON INDESIRABLE by Francis Ryck and directed by Robert Enrico (AN OCCURENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE). Conspiracy thrillers (Z, THE PARALLAX VIEW, 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR) are often compelling. This effort keeps you on the edge because you don't know if Trintignant is a political prisoner on the run or if he's a batsh*t crazy killer on the loose. You even begin to suspect that Noiret's sympathetic writer isn't mentally stable either. You begin to expect the worst and when it comes, it's every bit as depressing as you thought it would be! There's only Jobert's suspicious partner (she and Noiret aren't married) to reflect the viewer's uneasiness about the situation. The score is typical Ennio Morricone. With Jean Francois Adam and Solange Pradel.