The Niece

Roy, an American travelling on a train to Nice in France, spots Dani, a former fashion model, and chats her up. He tells her he has a niece called Denice, who lives in a farmhouse 12 kilometres from Nice. Dani thinks this is a joke, but Roy makes a video call to Denice, and she speaks to Dani, who is then invited to spend a week with them. Roy tells Dani that he has never actually been in love. Dani says she has loved numerous men, but it never lead to anything serious. Roy tells Dani that Denice lost both her parents in a car accident last year, and that he is going there to see how she is coping with her grief. Dani meets Denice, who looks to her as a shoulder to cry on. Denice wakes Dani at night and asks to sleep in the same bed, as she fears the ghosts of her parents. Dani agrees. Dani reveals that she now mentors former models so that they have some money and some purpose in life after they retired. Dani fancies herself as an amateur psychologist. Roy falls in love with Dani, and overcomes his mental block, which prevented him from feeling love towards a woman. Dani re-enacts what happened to Denice's parents, but changes the past, as Roy and Dani pretend to be her parents, as they drive off in the same type of car her parents were killed in, but this time the car returns intact with both Roy and Dani, pretending to be Denice's parents, still alive. This produces a psychological cure for Denice, and she no longer fears the ghosts of her parents. The script references the films "Shanghai Express" and "Puzzle Of A Downfall Child".