In the hottest summer since Body Heat, Eliane (Adjani) and local mechanic Pin Pon (Alain Souchon) begin an affair then marry. From this starting point (a similar plot device to Chabrol’s Le Boucher, 1969), life in a beautiful small town in Southern France begins to come apart. Under Jean Becker’s direction every character is fully rounded, and the naturalistic tone adds considerably to the impact of an intense drama that offers the perfect showcase for Adjani, establishing once and for all what an extraordinarily accomplished actress she can be. Where Beatrice Dalle in Betty Blue was similarly erotically charged and mentally unstable, Eliane has a dark and obsessive agenda that anticipates the sexual psychosis of Basic Instinct.