Currently playing at Curzon Cinemas and Panton Street Odeon,  The Girl on the Train from director Andre Techine follows the young, pretty Jeanne as she meets charming wayward Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle) and finds herself concocting an potent lie that sends the French media into a frenzy.

Based on the true story of Marie-Leonie Le Blanc who lied about being the victim of an antisemetic attack at a time when Jews in France faced an startling increase in hate crimes; director Andre Techine presents a character-centred view of the events.

Jeanne played wistfully by Émilie Dequenne likes her hair uncombed, her knitwear stripy and her music on constantly. Though Techine initially presents her as quietly content with her simple lot in life, sharing a home with her single mother – the classy Catherine Deneuve – before long her restlessness and constant need for stimulation becomes apparent when she meets roguish Franck. Bold and cocky, bordering on aggressive, he seems sincere and looks good in a suit so we forgive him his ropey family background and root for the couple.  A solid bit of drama ensues, sending Franck into hospital. After some mild self-mutilation, Jeanne goes to the police claiming to have been attacked by 6 youths. Lacking any obvious signs of Semitism, Jeanne puts the violence is down to a business card in her purse for an uptown lawyer with a distinctly Jewish name.

Techine seems to leave the real meat of the story to one side and focuses on the  reactions of Jeanne’s mother, said lawyer Samuel Bleistein and his family whose name is being dragged into a spiralling, fraudulent crime. A brilliant performance by Jérémy Quaegebeur as Bleistein’s pubescent grandson imbues the story with  a ponderous, youthful take on Jewishness, conscience and the media, supplemented by Michel Blanc’s knowing Bleistein.

It does seem an odd choice to only nod at the media reaction when it speaks volumes. Bleistein, spouts something about the playing on societal fears by reporting that the perpetrators were Black and Arab, Jeanne’s mother receives a call from the president’s office confirming his support but we see nothing of the newsroom drama that was unfolding at manic pace.

What Techine does flawlessly and with ease is sculpt anti-heroes and tricksy protagonists that shuttle his production along, arousing intrigue and forcing his audience’s sympathies between a rock and a hard place.

Girl on the Train runs until 10th June.