entertainment
Share icon

Share

This 72-minute new thriller is one of the tensest movies of the year

Published 10:34 8 Oct 2026 BST

Updated 10:36 8 Oct 2026 BST

Stephen Porzio
This 72-minute new thriller is one of the tensest movies of the year

Homeentertainment

'An unforgettable, immersive watch.'

A new, 72-minute (not counting credits), genre-bending thriller has just been released, and you need to put it on your radar.

The movie is titled Child and hails from Luxembourg. Directed by Cyrus Neshvad in his feature debut, the story introduces us in medias res to a couple named Anne (Brigitte Urhausen) and Greg (Malik Zidi) whose young boy, Léo, is in hospital and close to death after an accident.

Movie TitleChild
Where to WatchIn UK cinemas
CastMalik Zidi, Brigitte Urhausen, Lydia Indjova
Length78 minutes (with credits)

But Anne has a secret plan to save her son. This requires her and Greg to cross the border into another, unnamed European country, as well as an "unforgivable moral line".

Once they do, the couple finds themselves "trapped in a nightmare where every choice demands an even greater price".

To reveal any more of Child's plot would spoil the film. Part of its dark thrill is how it drops the viewer into a plan already in motion, leaving them desperately trying to catch up and understand what is happening.

Just as you think you have a grasp on what kind of movie you are watching, Neshvad and his co-writer Guillaume Levil pull the rug out from under you again and again. They switch up the story from a grim social thriller drama about class and privilege into something else entirely, while also frequently shifting narrative point of view (Lydia Indjova is also very good in a co-lead role).

Watch the trailer for Child right here:

The vagueness of the central set-up can be a tad distracting (for example, what country are Anne and Greg travelling to?). Also, while its genre shifts lead to some incredibly tense and thrilling moments, what really stays with viewers is that opening, more realistic 30 minutes - where we're trapped with Anne and Greg as they try to carry out their shocking plan, for understandable reasons, which quickly goes off the rails.

Even with these flaws, Child makes for a tight-as-a-drum, immersive, unforgettable experience. Director Cyrus Neshvad is certainly one to watch.

Child is in UK cinemas now.