Swedish director Jesper Ganslandt's intense and provocative second feature begins impressively. A man lies face down on a bathroom floor covered in blood which we soon learn is not his. How did he get here? And what has happened to him?

The Ape, the follow up to Ganslandt's highly regarded study of bored twentysomethings Falkenberg Farewell, is an ice-cold character study in which a desperate man tries to come to terms with what has happened to him. Olle Sarri delivers a high-tension performance as the brutal and brutalised character Krister, brought to life by some uncomfortably close Dardenne-style camerawork that appears to be chasing him, revealing his face to be a mask of anxiety, fear and anger.

Ganslandt's approach is to drip feed the audience clues. Krister is close to breaking point, seemingly capable of anything and makes frantic attempts to re-engage with his everyday life which is gone forever. The tension is heightened by the fact the director kept his lead actor guessing as to what was to happen from one scene to the next, as Krister unravels during a very uncomfortable tennis match and goes to see his mother in a scene that simmers with menace.

It would be unfair to the film to reveal any more of the plot details but having set up such an intriguing premise, Ganslandt seems less interested in unravelling the mystery than spectating on the aftermath. His film becomes more enigmatic riddle than the cracking thriller it promised to be.

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