Watchlist: Notable Debuts

“Saint Ange,” the first feature film by Pascal Laugier, contains many of the elements that made his 2008 cult-classic “Martyrs” so distinctive. Both films start off in a predictable, genre-specific way — then gradually reveal darker, stranger, subterranean layers that defy our expectations. Of the two films, “Ange” is lighter fare, while “Martyrs” is far bloodier and much more disturbing. In the United States, on some streaming services, “Saint Ange” is listed as “House of Voices.” “Saint Ange” begins as a slow-build Gothic ghost-story, in the vein of 2007’s “The Orphanage” or 2001’s “The Others.” “Ange” works quite well on…

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