The Oscars: A woman in danger must make the most important call of her life. | A Sister

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A Sister is used with permission from Delphine Girard in partnership with MyFrenchFilmFestival. Learn more at http://omele.to/2u0Qs0n.

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A man drives a car at night, accompanied by a woman in the front seat next to him. The car is silent, until the woman asks to make a phone call. She must call her sister, she says. The woman says she left her child with her, and her sister will worry unless she calls.

But all is not what it seems, as the woman calls not her sister but an emergency operator. The woman is in danger... and this is the most important call of her life.

Writer-director Delphine Girard's Oscar-nominated short thriller is an expertly constructed masterwork of psychological suspense, using all elements of cinematic craft to propel a compelling, timely story about violence, power and ultimately the deepest levels of empathy and sensitivity.

From the writing and construction of the narrative to the elegantly sculpted editing and shots, the film makes unexpected, surprising creative decisions that constantly upend expectations while building nerve-wracking tension.

Take the first sequence of the film, which is mostly shot in the darkness of the car's backseat: viewers barely see any faces, and the relationship between the man driving and the woman talking isn't immediately discernible. The conversation, too, seems banal, but for the strange notes of hesitancy in the woman's voice. Visually the film withholds crucial information and access, heightening suspense and compelling viewers to listen in closer to what's being said.

But then the narrative doubles back, reframing the conversation from the POV of its recipient. Instead of her sister, the woman has instead called an emergency operator, who must piece together what is happening. Very quickly, the operator realizes that the woman is in danger, and must figure out what is going on and where -- all while the woman attempts to evade suspicion of the unstable man driving the car.

The film toggles between the car and the operator's office, highlighting both the operator's desire for more information and the woman's competing need to hide what she's doing. It is a high-stakes narrative balancing act, abetted by deft editing and remarkable performances, especially by Belgian actress Veerle Baetens as the operator. Baetens's performance juggles both a cool, calm competence demanded by her profession as well as a growing emotional investment with the nameless woman on the other line. Her quick thinking likely means the line between life and death for the "sister," and her ability to hear what's unsaid and ask the right questions forms the crucial piece of an agonizing, high-stakes puzzle.

"A Sister" is powerfully and masterfully crafted, written and directed with intelligence and rigor, and packs immense resonance and tension for its short running time. And though it achieves and fulfills the imperatives of the thriller genre with aplomb, it subverts the genre's expectations of using more action and violence to resolve its dilemmas.

Rather than engage in a high-speed car chase or shootout, the storytelling instead frames the phone operator's ability to listen closely and deeply as the true heroic act of the film. The operator's ability to listen -- to understand the emotions underneath the words, and to intuit what is unspoken -- is what saves her fellow woman in "A Sister," and makes the film all the more powerful, subversive and ultimately unforgettable.

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The Oscars: A woman in danger must make the most important call of her life. | A Sister

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