Getting attention at school is no bad thing, unless it's unwelcome interest from bullies of course. The best kind of attention to be had would be from the opposite of sex, except again, if they were also bullies. The next best kind would be from a teacher. To have a teacher on your side in some way was always a result, even if it was for a rubbish subject like woodwork or geography.

French director François Ozon examines the pupil/teacher dynamic in his film In the House. And being Ozon, he gives it a very distinctive French twist.

A new year at school beckons for English teacher Germain (Frabrice Luchini). He is already disappointed and disheartened with the results from his first assignment, where he asked his pupils to describe what they did over the weekend.

One pupil from his year 10 class shows promise though; Claude (Ernst Umhauer) writes a highly descriptive account of what it would be like to visit the house of one of his class-mates. For Germain it's an intriguing premise, particularly as the piece ends with 'to be continued'. Unusually for him, he decides to offer some support to the student, in return for his ingenuity.

With every further instalment in his 'story', Germain finds himself ever more enthralled by the episode. But it's not only him that's drawn in by Claude's prose; he also starts bringing them home for his wife Jeanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) to read, with the pair now fascinated by Claude's encounters at the home of his friend Rapha (Bastein Ughetto) and his parents Rapha (Denis Ménochet) and Esther (Emmanuelle Seigner).

Claude soon realises that he has his teacher in the palm of his hand, and decides to take his hold over him to the next level.

I love being French. The idea of being able to have a liquid diet with salad on the side is beyond compare. Salute!

Initially at least, you could construed this as being in a similar vein as Dead Poets Society, with a teacher inspiring a student into having a real passion for his subject. This doesn't last long however, as Ozon's take is a far, far darker one. The journey his two main characters take is a joint voyage aboard both voyeurism and manipulation, as well as an obvious displacement of power.

Being French, it's also a little on the pretentious side, with knowing nods to figures in literature, as well as an amusing portrayal of modern art through Jeanne's job as an art curator for a struggling gallery.

Ozon's unique approach to the story makes it difficult to second guess where it goes next, which makes it all the more intriguing.

There are some pleasant performances from the cast, not least from the young Umhauer who completely nails being a conniving little shit. Perhaps the film's Achilles' heel comes from the fact that there's not one character you can really root for throughout proceedings.

It's an absorbing curiosity as whole, with Ozon once again delivering a master class in filmmaking.