For sheer suspense, few recent thrillers match Alain Guiraudie’s low-key but high-anxiety mystery “Misericordia.” It’s set in a small town in the South of France, where a young man named Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) returns after a long absence, for the funeral of his former employer—a baker named Jean-Pierre, on whom he had a crush. Jérémie stays on as a guest of the baker’s widow (Catherine Frot), but her son (Jean-Baptiste Durand) resents the prodigal’s return. The conflict turns violent, and the police get involved. Guiraudie sketches the resulting inquiries and evasions in sharp, brisk strokes; above all, he reveals the commonness of queer sexuality in the tradition-bound locale. The religious aspect of the title is embodied by a local priest (Jacques Develay) and involves an extraordinary scene of confession.—The New Yorker (Richard Brody)