My thanks go out to the anonymous Twitch reader - sorry, the new video system doesn't tell me who's done what - who passed along the trailer for Julius Sevcik's Czech noir-thriller Normal. Czech film doesn't travel particularly widely but the nation has a long film history with a good number of extremely talented people and it looks as though Sevcik has put together something truly exceptional here, stunningly photographed and crackling with energy.

Based on a true story, this psychological thriller is set in Germany during the recession in the 1930s. Young, ambitious lawyer Justus Wehner gets his first big case – the defence of brutal serial killer Peter Kurten. Wehner is certain that Kurten suffers from a severe mental disorder and to prove it delves deep into the killer’s past, motivation and psyche. Then, Kurten’s wife Marie arrives, and together with Kurten, starts to manipulate Wehner into assisting them with one last crime. Now, Wehner has to fight not only to win the complicated case but also to save his soul.

Noir fans are going to be all over this one ... check the trailer out below the break.