1995 French psychological thriller film by Claude Chabrol
La Cérémonie (English: lit. The Ceremony also known as A Judgment In Stone) is a 1995 French psychological thriller film by written and directed by Claude Chabrol. Starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Bonnaire and adapted from the 1977 novel A Judgement In Stone by Ruth Rendell. The story follows Sophie, a woman hired to work as a maid for the rich Lelièvre family, in the French countryside. There, she befriends Jeanne, the local postmistress, but soon, their friendship starts taking an increasingly dark turn.
The film echoes the true case of Christine and Léa Papin, two French maids who brutally murdered their employer's wife and daughter in 1933, as well as the 1947 play they inspired, The Maids by Jean Genet.
The film received widespread critical acclaim with praise for Chabrol's screenplay and directing, and Bonnaire and Huppert's performances. In an interview, South Korean director Bong Joon Ho said the movie was his main inspirations to his Oscar-winning acclaimed 2019 film, Parasite.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.