User Rating 
Contains moderate violence, nudity and sex references
Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanovic (No Man's Land) returns with this coldly schematic work, in which the sins of the parents are visited upon their children. Based on an original screenplay idea by the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, Hell interweaves the stories of three estranged adult siblings living in present-day Paris. Despite the efforts of a fine cast, the finished film feels overly determined and insufficiently mysterious.
Having begun with an arresting credits sequence, in which a newly born chick forces out unhatched eggs from the nest, Hell introduces us to the trio of sisters, who have lost touch with one another in their adult lives. The married with children Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart) is being cheated on by her photographer husband, architecture student Anne (Marie Gillain) is embroiled in a doomed affair with one of her married professors (Jacques Perrin), whilst the timid Celine dutifully visits their mute and wheelchair-bound mother (Carole Bouquet) at a lavish rural rest-home.
"COINCIDENCE-DRIVEN SCREENPLAY"
Cutting backwards and forwards in time, and exploring (albeit superficially) the degree to which our lives are governed by destiny or free will, Tanovic eventually reveals the appalling sequence of events that has traumatized the female members of the same family.
Motifs of spirals and mirrors abound in the baroque, colour-coded cinematography. But the coincidence-driven screenplay seems to constrict the characters, and the most engaging performance comes in the shape of a typically sprightly cameo from Jean Rochefort's sanatorium resident. "Too much emotion, my heart's giving up," he quips when stretchered away, adding a dash of welcome humour.
In French with English subtitles.
