After her utterly convincing turn as an obsessive fan in Backstage, French actress Isild Le Besco creates another creepy portrait of monomania in Parting Shot. Impressive first feature by Basel-born helmer Jeanne Waltz is part psychological study, part personal epiphany as a bungled suicide attempt forces a young woman to connect more with society around her. Writer-director Waltz, with a decade of shorts behind her, keeps the 83-minute pic taut throughout, with hardly a wasted scene. Small changes in emotional calibration are beautifully handled, and the atmosphere of a small mountain town, remote from the wider world, is captured via unfussy helming.