Assassins come in all shapes and sizes, but the protagonist in this French thriller may well be the first to double as an opera singer; a hitwoman who can also hit all the right notes, if you will.

When someone does a job for any length of time, it's no wonder they start to look elsewhere. Assassins are no different. Lucrèce (Mèlanie Laurent) has been paid to kill others for a number of years now, but with an eight year-old daughter, she feels it's finally time to give up her day job.

Her boss l'Arménien (Tchéky Karyo) has one last job he needs her to do however, and asks if she will postpone her retirement for another two weeks. She agrees.

The job is a simple one; the hit is a Scottish baritone Alexander Child (Christopher Stills). But to kill him, Lucrèce has to pose as a soprano. Luckily for her, she can carry a tune.

Things are complicated further however, by the arrival of guitarist Rico (Clovis Cornillac); not only can he play the guitar, but he's a former agent working for French Counter-intelligence re-hired to track down the assassin and stop them, at any cost.

A toast then: to being French!

Considering there's not much in the way of action in this film, director Jérôme Le Gris injects a surprising amount of tension into his debut effort. With its plot centred around a murder that's due to take place around a music festival, it nods its head gently towards Hitchcock's classic The Man Who Know Too Much - colour or black and white version, take your pick.

It's slightly more highbrow, being that it's set in an idyllic Swiss chateau, surrounded by beautiful vistas and the finest of wines, making it all so impeccably French.

Laurent is particularly engaging as the all-singing assassin, as is Karyo, who is supremely watchable yet again.

It may lack any true feeling of suspense, but its gentle whosdoingit/whodunit vibe is intriguing enough to hold your attention right up to the end. And as far as Le Gris is concerned, he makes quite an impression with his debut with this assured and compelling thriller.