François Ozon's Dans la maison | In the House (2002)

Dans la maison is adapted from Juan Mayorga's play El chico de la última fila (2000), and is in a sense a kind of thriller, although on the surface a banal one in which French teacher Germain Germain (Fabrice Luchini, a failed author) becomes intellectually (but not sexually) attracted to his student Claude Garcia (Ernst Umhauer), who shows signs of being gifted, someone who could become a writer. Germain lives with his wife Jeanne (Kristen Scott Thomas), who runs an art gallery, and who's a little concerned about her husband, who hasn't had sex with her for some time, not since his interest in Claude.

Germain encourages Claude, suggests new ways he can approach his writing, although the situation intensifies and Claude, who has befriended his classmate Rafa (Bastien Ughetto), becomes increasingly interested in Rafa's home, which 'smells middle class'. He records his impressions in his compositions which increase in frequency, and which Germain suggests Claude might tackle better.

But fantasy overcomes reality: how much of Rafa's parents house does Claude in fact study, as some writing here is obvious fantasy? Does Claude engage in a passionate kiss with Esther (Emmanuelle Seigner), Rafa's mother: certainly that would explain Rafa's falling out with Claude, although of course there's that other passionate kiss that Rafa plants on Claude, Claude calling Rafa a 'sale pédé' ('dirty queer'), and pure imagination certainly must be Claude writing off Rafa as hanging himself.

And then there's Germain being suspended for faking Rafa's maths test in order to continue the relationship he's vicariously living through Claude's writing, Claude leaving home and visiting Germain's flat while he's not there but Jeanne is, and does anything sexual come of that?

In the end the teacher and the student stare at the block of flats from the park and imagine, invent occurrences, and the viewer sees picture windows, in one of which is a murder, although this is obviously in their imagination....isn't it?