The Good Neighbor

Two American friends are working in Latvia. Driving back one night they go off the road and hit a woman on a bicycle. David is at the wheel; his friend Robert persuades him and they leave the scene. The woman dies. The next day David meets his neighbour, who turns out to be her sister. He cannot stay away; he begins a relationship and the lie grows with every step. Stephan Rick directs. The cast includes Luke Kleintank, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Eloise Smyth. The shape is the guilt thriller and it is familiar: a concealed accident, an approaching investigation and a lie that keeps growing. Where it works is the difference between the two friends. Robert feels no remorse and keeps David in the same place; the imbalance between them is the real tension. Riga and its surroundings are inside the narrative; being in a foreign country, not knowing the language and being unable to deal with the police make the situation worse. The weakness is the romantic line. The relationship between David and the woman loses credibility quickly and the narrative sustains it through a chain of coincidence. It is a German and American co-production and a mid scale example of the genre. Who it is for: viewers who like thrillers built on guilt. Who it is not for: the plot is predictable, the characters' decisions are illogical, and the ending falls into the shape of the genre.