Just like Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell is a perfect inspiration to Claude Chabrol. Following Patricia Highsmith's example, Ruth Rendell minutely explores the troubled minds of unbalanced characters and the effects of their dangerous conduct on the people they mix with, the latter unaware of their mental imbalance. And what is director Chabrol pet theme? Just that!
This second child of a love match ( "La Demoiselle d'Honneur" is "La Cérémonie"'s younger sister ) is - unsurprisingly - as good as the first product of their encounter.
This time around, two hearts, two bodies are irrepressibly attracted to each other but will the sick mind of one contaminate the other's healthy brain? This is what the story is about and fascination slowly but surely finds its way to the viewer. Indeed Chabrol's talent mainly lies in his ability to make the story shift from the ordinary ( Philippe's family life, his job, the wedding ) to the uncanny ( Senta's odd ideas, the queer characters living in a bizarre house, Senta's sincere love tainted with unsettling ideas).
Benoît Magimel and Laura Smet embody the cursed couple to perfection.
In addition, there are excellent supporting performances, mainly from Aurore Clément ( the mother whose suffering is made apparent despite the character's efforts to hide it ), from young Anna Mihalcea ( striking as a young tortured rebel ) and from Michel Duchaussoy ( very amusing as good-natured tramp ).
All this fine movie lacks to be a genuine masterpiece is an extra dose of intensity. But , as it is, it's quite worth seeing.
