Belle de Jour

Séverine and Pierre love each other but cannot share physical intimacy, leaving her frustrated and the marriage emotionally strained. Pierre respects her wishes, yet the distance between them grows. The scene is set in their Paris home as their private life becomes a quiet battleground.

On a ski resort trip, Séverine is unsettled by Husson's manner and attention. When they return to Paris, she learns from Renée that a friend works in a brothel, hinting at a hidden world. Husson also alludes to pleasures and keeps pressing, foreshadowing the secret life to come.

Back in Paris, Séverine meets Husson at the tennis courts and they discuss Henriette and 'houses of pleasure'. Husson names a high-class brothel at 11 Cité Jean de Saumur and confesses his desire for her, which she rebuffs. The tension marks the boundary she will later cross.

Haunted by childhood memories, Séverine enters the high-class brothel run by Madame Anaïs and is named 'Belle de Jour'. That afternoon she services her first client, initially reluctant but responding to the 'firm hand' that defines the world she has been craving. The encounter marks the birth of her double life.

After the first visit, Séverine stays away for a week but then begins working from two to five o'clock each day, returning to her unsuspecting husband in the evenings. She keeps the brothel life strictly separate from her marriage, enabling a parallel existence. This routine cements the dual realities she will navigate.

Husson visits Séverine at home, but she refuses to see him. Although he leaves, she imagines an intimate encounter with him in her husband's presence. The moment reveals the pull of forbidden desire and the boundaries she refuses to cross openly.

Meanwhile, Séverine's relationship with her husband gradually improves, and they begin having sex, adding complexity to her secret life. The line between fantasy and reality blurs as affection resurfaces. The couple's private bond strengthens even as her other life continues.

Séverine becomes involved with Marcel, a young criminal who offers the thrill and danger that mirror her fantasies. This liaison brings real danger and jealousy into her carefully maintained duality. The relationship deepens the emotional stakes of her secret life.

Husson returns to the brothel, discovers Séverine, and asks her not to tell Pierre. He agrees to end the affair, claiming he is no longer attracted to her. The fragile balance is threatened, and the risk of exposure grows.

Madame Anaïs blesses Séverine's decision to leave the brothel as Marcel becomes more jealous and demanding. Séverine resolves to quit, hoping to safeguard her marriage from looming exposure. The exit represents a critical turning point in the tragedy.

Marcel follows Pierre home and shoots him three times, then flees. He is later shot dead by the police. Pierre survives the attack but is left gravely injured, triggering a cascade of consequences for Séverine's life.

Pierre survives but is now paralysed, blind and confined to a wheelchair. The police struggle to find a motive for the attempted murder, leaving Séverine to cope with the fallout of her secret life. The family is fractured by the violence that erupted from her double life.

Sometime later Husson visits Pierre to reveal the truth about Séverine's secret life. She does not attempt to stop him, accepting the consequences of the revelations. The disclosure intensifies the emotional strain on the marriage and on Séverine herself.

Husson departs, and Séverine returns to see Pierre crying, signaling the depth of pain and unresolved tension between them. The atmosphere remains heavy with what has been exposed and what remains hidden. The scene underscores the fragility of their bond.

In the final moment, Pierre appears to rise from the wheelchair and discuss holiday plans with Séverine, hinting that the ending could be another fantasy. The film leaves the truth open to interpretation, emphasizing themes of desire, illusion, and the uncertain nature of reality. The ending provokes reflection on what is real versus what is imagined.