13 Tzameti (pronounced 'zah-meddy') is a riveting and suspenseful movie from France.  This is the maiden effort of director Gela Babluani.  It's shot in gritty black-and-white, perhaps to contrast all the gray-line conclusions that the main character has to go through in the movie.

We follow the events that transpire through the main character, Sebastien (played by Georges Babluani).  He is a roofer who needs money to support his family.  He comes across some information regarding an opportunity that can be a huge financial windfall as the occupant of the house that he's been fixing suddenly encounters his demise.  He takes the train ticket and hotel reservation in Paris meant for the deceased and assumes the task that's been entrusted to him.  Little does he know that he's going to be involved in an underground high-stakes Russian Roulette tournament.  This ain't fight club, Betty Sue.

This film is now perhaps one of the best I've seen all year long.  I relished the moments of tension as the time of sheer panic and relief is only literally separated by a hair trigger.  The confined space where everything takes place only proves to emphasize how the participants's private anguish is now public spectacle.  They don't even have any semblance of control and desperately hang on each time the gamble results in an empty chamber.  Never have I thought that impending doom and salvation could all be found at the flick of a switch.