In the House

A pompous high school literature teacher, Germain, encourages the troubling voyeurism of a promising (and manipulative) student, Claude, intending to help Claude improve his writing. But as Claude’s story becomes increasingly invasive into the real lives of his characters, Germain’s motives as an instructor come into question. Within that premise, In the House is an exploration of the audience’s role as a participant in art, and in particular the audience’s complicity in the sins of the artist. It manages this somewhat arcane task in an impressively accessible fashion, with shades of a psychological thriller. For the most part, it works, but its lofty ambition ultimately exceeds its reach.