American Translation is a 2011 French psychological drama directed by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold, starring Lizzie Brocheré and Pierre Perrier. Bold, provocative, and deeply unsettling, the film examines the blurred boundaries between love and destruction, exploring how intimacy can become a vessel for obsession and violence.

The story follows Aurore (Lizzie Brocheré), a young woman drifting through life, searching for connection and meaning. One night, she meets Chris (Pierre Perrier), a mysterious and charismatic man who seems both charming and dangerous. Their attraction is immediate and electric — the kind of chemistry that feels like fate. They begin a passionate road trip across France, a whirlwind of desire, intimacy, and reckless freedom.

But as their relationship deepens, Aurore begins to sense that Chris harbors dark secrets. His moods shift unpredictably from tenderness to rage, and he reveals a disturbing obsession with young men — one that crosses from fantasy into reality. Soon, Aurore discovers that Chris is not just emotionally unstable, but a killer, preying on gay men in an attempt to purge himself of his own repressed desires and inner torment.

Caught between fear and love, Aurore refuses to abandon him. She becomes both accomplice and witness, drawn into a world of violence and delusion, unable to separate passion from destruction. Their journey transforms into a haunting exploration of identity — sexual, emotional, and moral — as both characters spiral into a toxic symbiosis that can only end in tragedy.

Lizzie Brocheré’s performance as Aurore is raw and haunting. She brings emotional complexity to a woman torn between empathy and horror, seduction and survival. Pierre Perrier, as Chris, embodies the chilling duality of a man consumed by his own fractured identity — his beauty concealing a deep self-hatred that manifests in violence.

Visually, American Translation contrasts idyllic French landscapes with scenes of intimacy and brutality. The cinematography emphasizes natural light, creating an atmosphere of deceptive calm — a quiet, sunlit backdrop against which moral darkness unfolds. The tone is both lyrical and disturbing, immersing the viewer in the characters’ psychological descent.