I Start Counting

David Greene's 1970 British film follows Wynne, fourteen and in love with her foster brother. Young women are being killed in the town; she notices strange things in his behaviour and can tell nobody her suspicion. The film's uncomfortable force is entangling a murder mystery with adolescent desire: Wynne wants to suppress her suspicion because if it is right she will lose him too. Jenny Agutter's performance carries that doubleness. The move from a demolished old neighbourhood to new housing estates forms the visual ground. The ending is left uncertain. Who it's for: viewers who like British thrillers of the seventies and psychological narrative. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding themes of murder and sexual threat, or wanting a clear resolution.