Divorced illustrator Robert spies on a young woman named Juliette whom he envies for her seemingly happy life.

In a final confrontation between the men, Véronique is accidentally killed, and although Patrick is defeated, Robert is again left as a suspect in an apparent crime scene.

The Los Angeles Times called it "top-drawer Chabrol", and "a gratifying entertainment of leisurely elegance--and delicious nastiness.

"[4] TV Guide remarked that "Chabrol seems just plain too jovially bourgeois to whip himself up to the state of moral implacability that characterizes Hitchcock's utter control of the medium.

[6] A third film adaptation written and directed by Jamie Thraves and starring Julia Stiles and Paddy Considine was released in 2009.