Society lady Hélène realizes her lover Jean is losing interest in her. Consumed by anger, she plots a cruel vengeance by tricking him into marrying Agnès, an impoverished cabaret dancer. Jean doesn’t know that Agnès is a former sex worker and Hélène plans to break the news after their wedding.

A Denis Diderot adaptation with dialogue by Jean Cocteau, this second feature from Robert Bresson is a scandalous tale of intense desire. If the prowling camera and professional actors suggest an atypical entry in the Bressonian canon, its frosted interiority couldn’t have come from anyone else.