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French wine country has never looked so gruesome in this high-energy thriller by genre maestro Eric Valette.
Tomer Sisley stars as an injured fugitive taking shelter in a remote farmhouse, run by a young mixed-race family who have had to contend with the inveterate xenophobia of their neighbours. But matters are complicated when it's revealed that Sisley killed the son of a powerful South American drug baron, who has dispatched a Sino-German hitman (an unforgettably sinister Terence Yin) to avenge the death. With glacial impassivity, Yin subjects his series of victims to the ancient method of torture suggested by the film's title.
Equal parts Sergio Leone and Johnnie To, Thousand Cuts displays the mastery of suspense and atmosphere that was already evident in Valette's One Missed Call (2008) and The Prey (2011), and lays bare the savage underbelly lying beneath the postcard idyll of rural France.
'With steely panache, Thousand Cuts sustains its mood of steady, brooding swagger.' – The Hollywood Reporter
Contains images of violence
