Based on the 1969 novel Murder at Leisure by Hubert Monteilhet, the film tells the story of an inveterate womaniser who, after marrying an unattractive but rich girl, seduces her prettier sister and has a baby with her.

As a medical student, Paul became celebrated for the conquest of unattractive girls, finding them more satisfying than prettier ones.

He thought he had a happy family of wife, mistress, and child until a mysterious road accident left him crippled for life and emasculated.

The New York Times said "the performances are uniformly good" but "more interesting than the movie itself is the way its concerns with guilt and roletrading relate to other, far better Chabrol films.

"[4] Time Out called it a "coarse farce" that "looked more like the director's revenge on the French mass audience, who had consistently ignored his good movies, but would accept anything with Belmondo.