

An innocent woman falls prey to her abusive husband, his wealthy father and a shady family friend.
Acting
Stéphane Audran's silently unraveling composure.
Direction
Chabrol's cold, clinical observation of evil.
Writing
Every polite dinner scene drips with menace.

Director
Claude Chabrol
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Chabrol called his thrillers 'bourgeois tragedies'—this is him at his most politically furious, exposing how French respectability shields male violence.
Based on Charlotte Armstrong's novel 'The Balloon Man'; Chabrol relocated it to France to critique his own class.
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