Yannick Bérubé (Marc-André Grondin) has just been accepted into film school and has started filming everything around him in the new town where he’s going to study. While riding his bike he crashes and goes to a house for help – 5150 rue des Ormes.
When he enters the home Yannick hears screaming from up stairs and witnesses Jacques Beaulieu (Normand D’Amour) murdering someone. Jacques takes Yannick and locks him in a room. Trapped in the room Yannick tries to figure out a way to escape.
Yannick is kept in the room for months while he tries to escape and fails. He also meets the rest of Jacques family, his quiet wife Maude (Sonia Vachon) and daughters Michelle (Mylène St-Sauveur) and Anne (Élodie Larivière). Jacques is fighting the “evil one” – drug dealers, pedophiles and other bad people.
Yannick has to prove that he’s one of the good ones but even then Jacques is reluctant to release him. Jacques loves playing chess, he never loses and he challenges Yannick to beat him in chess. If Yannick can he is free to go. Of course after all this time Yannick is starting to lose his mind.
This French Canadian movie from Quebec is excellent. Director Éric Tessier knows how to build tension and keeps things intense. Written by Patrick Senécal who adapted it from his novel and has also penned several other horror/thriller tales which a couple more will be featured in this years 31 Days of Horror. Suspenseful and frightening movie with a final chess game that’s super intense.
