When Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) finds a handbag on the subway, she doesn’t think twice about tracking down its rightful owner, who turns out to be Greta (Isabelle Huppert), a lonely piano teacher in desperate need of company. Struggling to make friends in New York, Frances indulges Greta and before long a bond is formed over shared bereavements: Frances lost her mother recently, and Greta is a widow who has become estranged from her daughter. As their friendship grows however, Greta’s desire for companionship takes on a more obsessive edge.

Isabelle Huppert gives a superbly baroque performance in Neil Jordan’s delightfully lurid thriller that wastes no opportunity to drop a knowing wink to the audience.

Notes by David O’Mahony