My take: If you like thrillers of any sort, see this movie. It is a masterpiece of tension, mystery and suspense. Seriously, go see it.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
Diabolique is the 34th movie in the book Studies in Terror, and I have been waiting for it. This is because I had seen it before, years ago, and absolutely loved it. On a second viewing, it did not disappoint.
The wife and mistress in Diabolique.
It follows the story Christina Delasalle, a young woman with a bad heart who is married to an absolute brute of a man. Her husband, Michel Delasalle, is physically and emotionally abusive. He is also flagrantly unfaithful to Christina. His current mistress is Nicole, a teacher at the school the Delasalles own. Their affair is known to everyone, including Christina, resulting in an uncomfortable triangle of love and hate.
But Nicole is also mistreated by Michel, and this creates a bond between the two women. Working together, they devise a complicated plot to rid themselves of Michel once and for all.
The story moves quickly, keeping a brisk pace throughout. The characters, especially Christina, are so well played and developed, that you are quickly wrapped up in the story. And some scenes are downright cathartic if you like revenge stories. These three elements make it an absolutely fascinating film to watch, and it is one that I know that I will watch many times in the future. It’s that good.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers, murder mysteries, and suspense. I watched it on Hulu, but you can also get it via disc from Netflix. While you can find the trailer on YouTube, I thought this 3 Reasons video by the Criterion Collection was even better at evoking the feeling of the film:
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