Two European films play with boundary of what’s believable

Two European films opening this weekend have twists and turns that stretch — and occasionally break — credibility.

“Tell No One” is a French adaptation of a best-selling thriller by American writer Harlan Coben. Its pretzel-like plot begins with the murder of Margot (Canadian actress Mary-Josee Croze, from “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) at a remote lake.

Her husband Alex (workhouse Francois Cluzet) is nearby at the time, and is knocked out by the killers. Eight years later, he still broods over the loss.

Strange things, including online indications that Margot might be alive, lead Alex into a frenzied attempt to find the truth. Your tolerance for the pig pile of plot twists that results will depend on how much you like the kind of big, juicy mystery novel that kills time during a 10-hour plane ride.

That’s the kind of movie this is — heavy-breathing, implausible, but fun. Director Guillaume Canet puts his leading man through the wringer (naturally Alex is suspected of his wife’s murder as the plot rolls on), and he’s got a dandy cast to play with.

There’s a Columbo-esque policeman (Francois Berleand), Alex’s horsy sister (Marina Hinds) and her classy lover (Kristin Scott Thomas), and Margot’s fearsome father (Andre Dussollier). Everybody might be a red herring, or not.

I found the trashiness of “Tell No One” hard to resist. The German film “Yella,” on the other hand, goes for a dry, controlled style. It’s about a woman (Nina Hoss) who finally rids herself of a harassing husband, only to move to a different city and discover a latent talent for high-stakes business deals.

There’s something dreamlike and vague about her experiences, even as she meets a shadowy businessman who appreciates her cool ability to negotiate. Something is wrong with our heroine, and if you don’t want any clues, don’t read the next paragraph.

Without giving the whole game away, the film is clearly a remake of a classic low-budget B-movie, “Carnival of Souls,” in which a woman had similarly unreal experiences after surviving a car accident. It’s easy enough to guess the ending of “Yella,” and I found myself hoping for a variation on this theme. Alas, it never came.