Under the Sand (2000) review

Charlotte Rampling goes on vacation with husband, intending a weekend of relaxation, only to have her beau "disappear" without a trace. Interesting that I saw this on the same day as George Sluizer's The Vanishing, though Under the Sand is infinitely more detailed and refined; Ozon, slowly becoming one of my favorite filmmakers, has fashioned a deeply haunting statement about the ability of the mind to deceive itself and how humans are able to live in complete denial, creating a new form of personal "truth" and "reality" to prevent psychological breakdown. Somewhat slow - the last half-hour doesn't have the force of the first two - but that's a mild qualm, considering the achievement of both director and star.