The British director Tom Shankland made this pseudo-American film noir in Belfast with an international cast.
It seems to be trying for something like David Fincher's Se7en, but ends up more like an arty version of Saw. It may not be a fluke that Waz (nearly) spells Saw backwards.
It is well put together, with darkly lit, close-up camerawork that seldom strays away from the faces of its leading characters, though the prolonged final killing scene isn't far short of torture porn.
When bodies are discovered, either horribly mutilated or with the equation W.S carved into their flesh (the first is a heavily pregnant woman) Stellan Skarsgård's cynical detective, lumbered with Melissa George's ingénue partner, tries to pick up the trail.
We discover that the killer is performing the ultimate test of love. Would you kill your loved one to stop the pain of your own torture?
Do we really want to know the answer to this, however skilful the film-making? For all its undoubted promise, Waz leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth.
Ashley Walters, Tom Hardy and Selma Blair are also in the cast.
Waz
Cert: 18
