Andrew Haigh is finding success as an imitation artist. His first film, Greek Pete, is a low-rent docu-drama-esque imitation of a Mike Leigh film. He broke out with Weekend, which found him more or less imitating Richard Linklater with a gay walk-and-talk romance. His HBO television show, Looking, was the gay imitation of Lena Dunham’s Girls. And, now 45 Years is a pale imitation of a Michael Haneke film. If there’s any credit to be given, Haigh doesn’t imitate the same director twice.

In 45 Years, Geoff and Kate Mercer (Tom Courtenay, Charlotte Rampling) are a week from celebrating their 45th anniversary when Geoff receives word that some explorers found the intact body of his ex-girlfriend, Katya, in the deep cold of an underground lake in Switzerland. Katya and Geoff had been hiking in the mountains all those years ago when Katya fell into a pit, unable to be saved or even exhumed. Though married to Kate for 45 years, Katya had apparently never been a suitable topic of conversation, stored permanently in Geoff’s brain but never fully discussed. With the re-emergence of Katya’s corpse, her spirit takes possession over the marriage. Conversations are cut short, secrets are found in secret, and Kate finds herself in a freefall as she realizes that Katya has had an undue influence on every aspect of the marriage.

Though Katya is closest to Geoff, 45 Years is actually Kate’s movie. Charlotte Rampling is in almost every scene, and is the source of the dramatic crisis. Kate’s discovery and crisis is our discovery and crisis, and Rampling telegraphs every complication beautifully. That still doesn’t mean that being threatened by a dead woman isn’t a silly crisis. Early in the film, Kate even tries to dismiss her own worries as intellectually silly while still being emotionally devastate and unable to communicate her problems with anybody. She doesn’t talk with her friends, she doesn’t talk with Geoff, she just likes keeping up facades even as the inside is breaking.

Secrecy and constipation of communication is Haneke’s wheelhouse. Haneke uses secrecy and non-communication to dissect feigned bourgeois politeness and even explore other societal influences. But, more than that, Haneke is a confrontational director, aiming to indict his film’s subjects, the audience, and society as a whole. He leaves no injustice unjudged, and no button unpushed. Haigh isn’t Haneke. If Haneke is the angry bad boy of cinema, Haigh is just happy to be here. Haigh is here to examine and accept Kate’s turmoil without actually confronting it.

Here, Haigh is obsessed with long takes, watching emotions and revelations chain themselves together to form a crisis point. In some portions, especially early in the film, Rampling’s movements seem inspired by hitting her mark in the stagiest of ways. As the film continues, and the crisis ramps up, Rampling’s actions take on increasingly natural positions. Similarly, Rampling and Courtenay never possess the comfort and ease of a couple together for 45 years, but find a balletic rhythm with each other during their crisis. Haigh isn’t interested in what Rampling and Courtenay were like as a couple, but is only invested in their destruction. When we finally get there, Rampling and Courtenay deliver brilliant performances that almost feels real.

Even as the long takes hamper Rampling’s movements, Haigh finds occasional beauty in his setups. During one discussion, Haigh leaves Courtnay in a blurry foreground while watching Rampling deal with his revelations. When Kate discovers secret memories stashed in the attic, Haigh positions her in a two shot with a slideshow of Geoff and Katya’s fatal Swiss adventure. These gems of framing are islands surrounded by rote exercises in storytelling 101.

45 Years manages to find enjoyment in quiet crisis, even if Haigh squanders the confrontational potential within the story. In the hands of a master button pusher like Haneke, 45 Years could have been a shocking and brutal look at a woman in crisis. Instead, it’s a movie for people who want the bleakness of Haneke without the provocation. Haigh doesn’t have the balls to go to the places 45 Years needs to go, even if Rampling is all too willing to go there.