Calvaire

Marc Stevens, a struggling low-level performer, is stranded when his van breaks down during a violent storm in the woods. He is cold, alone, and cut off from help as the weather worsens around him.

A local rescues Marc and brings him to a run-down inn where he will be sheltered for the night. The inn is run by Mr. Bartel, a quiet, enigmatic host who seems oddly normal at first. The rescue sets the stage for Marc's increasingly uneasy stay.

Bartel, who claims to be a retired stand-up comedian, welcomes Marc and offers to repair his van as a token of brotherhood between entertainers. Marc remains aloof, wary of the innkeeper's odd mood and vague stories.

The next morning, Marc goes for a walk outside the inn, and Bartel becomes paranoid, warning him not to enter the nearby village. The warning hints at a hidden danger and deepens the sense that Marc is not safe. The tension between host and guest grows as the day unfolds.

While wandering, Marc witnesses a family voyeuristically watching a teenage boy have intercourse with a calf, describing the act as 'tender.' The scene underscores the inn's pervading creepiness and foreshadows the violence to come. Marc pulls away, unsettled by what he has seen.

That night, Bartel rifles through Marc's living quarters and steals his mobile phone along with some amateur photos. Marc later discovers the intrusion and realizes Bartel has been spying on him. The violation of privacy intensifies Marc's sense of entrapment.

The next day, Bartel grows more aggressive, recalling his adulterous wife Gloria and demanding that Marc sing him a song before bed. He oscillates between friendly talk and controlling fury, pushing Marc toward submission. Marc stays silent, trying to keep control of the situation.

The following day, Marc finds that Bartel has been through his things and that the phone line is not wired, making any call for help impossible. Bartel vandalizes Marc's van and finally blows it up, trapping Marc at the inn. The act seals Marc's lack of escape and traps him in Bartel's world.

Marc wakes tied to a chair, wearing an old dress as Bartel addresses him as if he were his wife. Bartel then shaves half of Marc's scalp to 'protect' him from the villagers and forces him into bed. The scene crystallizes Marc's loss of control and Bartel's ability to manipulate him.

The next morning, Bartel ties Marc to a tractor and takes him into the woods to chop down a Christmas tree. Marc manages to escape but becomes ensnared in a rabbit snare, and darkness falls as Boris wanders by. Boris treats Marc as a lost animal and offers no real help.

Marc lies trapped in the snare until Boris wanders by and, treating him like a dog, offers no assistance. Alarmed by the disappearance, Bartel is alerted and retrieves Marc, driving him back to the inn under a blanket. A pair of villagers see the truck but do nothing, underscoring the town's complicity.

Back at the inn, Bartel chastises 'Gloria' for running away and then crucifies Marc behind the inn before heading to the village pub. The locals react with fear to Bartel's tirades, and a piano player in the bar sets a disturbing mood. Bartel then brings Marc into the kitchen for a Christmas dinner, as Boris arrives with a calf he believes is his missing dog, prompting a tearful speech about love and togetherness before violence erupts.

Bartel's tirade culminates in a siege as villagers rush the inn with a pig on a leash, intent on reclaiming the calf and, in their delirium, raping Marc who they mistake for Bartel's returned wife. Bartel is mortally wounded in the chaos. The mob's brutality marks the collapse of any fairy-tale notion of Christmas.

Marc escapes the mob and runs into the surrounding forest, pursued by a villager who is eventually drawn away and falls into a muddy bog. Marc watches the man sink, and in a grim moment, as Gloria, asserts that he does love him. The encounter ends with the pursuer dead and Marc left hollow and alone.

Battered and hunted, Marc makes it back into the wilderness and is left to face the dawn alone. The village's siege has ended only in destruction and loss, and Marc, now fully a figure of the torment, remains solitary in the cold, unsettled world. The final image is of Marc alone, haunted by what he endured.