In the spirit of David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Atom Egoyan's Exotica, writer/director Marc Masciandaro has created a chilling, noir tale about the struggle for real human interaction and the danger of curiosity. Bearing all the markings of a suspense/thriller, 35J, with its Aronofsky-esque rhythm, is at its core a dark, expressionistic character study and, more specifically, an exploration of the voyeuristic means through which these characters are revealed.

"His name didn't matter. I didn't care who it was." Sidney lives alone. A workaholic and incurable introvert, he has conspicuously avoided human contact in both his professional and personal life. Sidney lives in his fantasies. Haunted by recurring dreams of a lost childhood innocence, he spends the bulk of his time staring out his office window hoping to see something. He takes comfort in his rituals. Every late-night after work, he comes to the same bar, where he sits at the same table in the back of the room, watching from a safe distance an exotic dancer named Adrianna, with whom he imagines he shares some unspoken connection.

"She becomes an instrument of ritual. She's looked upon as a holy figure. Even kings revere her." William has been breaking into Sidney's apartment. Stumbling across a key hidden under a doormat and overcome by curiosity, he inserts it in the lock and opens the door. Finding no one home, William, enchanted by his new environs, begins rummaging through drawers and cabinets, relishing the opportunity to peer in on someone else's life. Unknowingly the voyeur of a voyeur, William returns to Sidney's apartment night after night, reclining in his chair, masturbating in his bed, reading his personal papers, exalting in the power that comes with such an exclusive glimpse into an unsuspecting person's world. But Sidney's world is about to change. After witnessing a brutal death one night outside his office window, he is suddenly thrust into contact with two sinister-looking men and, to his nervous delight, Adrianna, who approaches him from out of the darkness, claiming to need his protection. Is Sidney in danger, and how can he know if Adrianna is truly who she claims to be? A brown file folder and a tiny sculpture in Sidney's bedroom could hold the answers.

"When I was a boy, I read books... and I imagined people to be like the heroes of those books... so I was always disappointed." Can Sidney learn to trust Adrianna? Is intimacy possible for someone who takes comfort in isolation? Will William get caught? And should there be a limit to the thrill of transgression? With its stylish, neo-noir atmosphere and multi-layered treatment of voyeurism, 35J is sure to awaken the slumbering cinephile in all of us.