Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
In 1930s Paris, Madeleine, a pretty, young, penniless, and talentless actress, is accused of murdering a famous producer. Helped by her best friend, Pauline, a young, unemployed lawyer, she is acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. A new life of fame and success begins, until the truth comes out.
François Ozon's light period comedy-mystery is a charming but fairly conventional romp through 1930s Parisian theatrical milieu. The plot is breezy and entertaining in its screwball structure but doesn't offer much in the way of genuine surprise or depth — the comedic murder-mystery premise is executed pleasantly rather than inventively. The acting is agreeable, with Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marder sharing good chemistry, though neither delivers a truly standout performance. Cinematography captures the retro aesthetic competently with warm, stagy visuals befitting the theatrical setting, but lacks any distinctive visual ambition. Novelty is low — the film treads well-worn ground for Ozon, echoing his earlier genre pastiches, and the 1930s screwball courtroom-comedy formula feels derivative rather than singular. The ending wraps things up in a fairly predictable, neat fashion that dissipates some of the earlier tension, feeling a bit anticlimactic given the comic buildup.