''5150 Elm's Way'' (french: 5150, rue des ormes) is a 2009 French-language Canadian
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed by
Éric Tessier and starring
René-Daniel Dubois
René-Daniel Dubois, OC (born July 20, 1955, in Montreal) is a Québécois playwright and actor.
Biography
Movie career
He is best known for his 1985 play ''Being at Home with Claude'', which was adapted into an award-winning film in 1992 and th ...
and
Marc-André Grondin
Marc-André Grondin (born March 11, 1984) is a Canadian actor, known for his role as Xavier Laflamme in the 2011 ice hockey film '' Goon''. He also played Zachary Beaulieu in Jean-Marc Vallée's film ''C.R.A.Z.Y.'' (2005), for which he won a Jutr ...
. It is based on a novel
with the same name, written by author
Patrick Senécal
Patrick Senécal is a French-Canadian writer and scenarist known for his horror oriented drama novels.
Senécal is well known in Québec for his unique dark genre; his work has often been compared to that of Stephen King. Three of his novels wer ...
.
Plot
Elm's Way is a calm street in a small town. When Yannick falls from his bike, he knocks on the door of the Beaulieu residence, to call a cab home. Entering the house, Yannick hears a man screaming upstairs. When he finally encounters the source of the screams he realizes that Beaulieu has wounded the man and was holding him hostage. Beaulieu then locks down Yannick in fear of him calling the police. Over time he learns Beaulieu is a righteous psychopath and fanatical
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
player who kills drug-dealers, pedophiles and other bad people for a better world.
Weeks pass and Yannick remains a prisoner, though is otherwise not mistreated by Beaulieu. He tries to escape, but is recaptured by Beaulieu's daughter Michelle, who breaks his leg. As he has done nothing wrong, Beaulieu doesn't want to kill Yannick and eventually agrees to let him go if he wins a game of chess against him, Beaulieu having never lost a game in his life so far. They play chess constantly, but Yannick never wins, though he rattles Beaulieu by once managing a draw. After Beaulieu's wife and daughter finally stand up to Beaulieu, they free Yannick. But Yannick has gone mad sitting locked in the room playing chess games against Beaulieu and doesn't leave, believing that the only option to stop Beaulieu is to win against him.
In the final showdown the two play a chess game in the cellar, where Beaulieu has conserved all of his victims and placed them as pieces on a giant chessboard. During the game, Beaulieu's little stepdaughter enters the cellar and witnesses her dead mother placed as a piece on the chessboard. She is then shot accidentally by Beaulieu, which renders him catatonic. The police arrive, free Yannick and arrest Beaulieu. Four months later Yannick is still madly obsessed with the interrupted chess game, so thoroughly consumed by the thought of the final position that he alienates himself from his girlfriend.
Cast
Production
The film was filmed at Melrose Studios in
Saint-Hubert, Québec
Saint-Hubert ( , , ) is a borough in the city of Longueuil, located in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. It had been a separate city prior to January 1, 2002, when it along with several other neighbouring south shore municipalities ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
.
Awards
Éric Tessier won for his script the Audience Award at the
Gérardmer Film Festival
Gérardmer (; or archaic ''Geroldsee'', and ''Giraumoué'' in local Vosgian) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Population
Culture
The Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer (literal ...
and
Joan-Patricia Parris was nominated for the Jutra Award for the best make-up.
Canada's Genies Toast 'Polytechnique,' Snub 'Mother' - indieWIRE
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Release
The film premiered on 9 October 2009 in Canada.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 1331291, 5150, Rue des Ormes
2009 films
2009 psychological thriller films
2000s French-language films
Canadian horror thriller films
Canadian psychological drama films
Films based on horror novels
Films set in Quebec
2000s psychological drama films
Films shot in Quebec
Films directed by Éric Tessier
2009 drama films
French-language Canadian films
2000s Canadian films