Paris doctor Catherine starts to think her husband, Bernard, is having an affair when she hears an unfamiliar woman's message on his voice mail. Hoping to learn more about his extramarital activities, Catherine heads to a strip club, where she hires call girl Nathalie to have a fling with Gerard. As the affair progresses, Nathalie gives Catherine regular status reports, and the relationship between the women evolves from business to personal.
Acting
Ardant's glacial composure vs. Béart's calculated vulnerability
Direction
Fontaine's refusal to moralize — she just watches them burn
Director
Anne Fontaine
Fanny Ardant
Catherine
Emmanuelle Béart
Nathalie / Marlène
Gérard Depardieu
Bernard
Wladimir Yordanoff
François
Judith Magre
Catherine's Mother
Rodolphe Pauly
The son
Évelyne Dandry
The boss of the bar
Aurore Auteuil
Catherine's patient
Idit Cebula
Ghislaine
Macha Polikarpova
Ingrid
Serge Onteniente
The real estate agent
Marc Rioufol
The client
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Emmanuelle Béart was famously difficult on set, reportedly refusing to speak to Fontaine between takes — method or mayhem?
The film was remade as 'Chloe' (2009) with Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried, stripping out the class tension that makes this version bite.
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