La Collectionneuse

On a sunlit summer day at Rodolphe’s house near Saint-Tropez, Adrien and his fiancée part on strained terms: she must head to London for five weeks, while he plans to unwind at the house Rodolphe has rented for the holiday. There will also be another old friend, Daniel, and the two men drift into a quiet routine of reading and swimming, savoring carefree moments by the sea.

When they arrive, Daniel warns that there is a third occupant in residence: Haydée, whom Rodolphe has bedded and who now brings a different boy back each night. The two friends band together to ban any more guests and gate her out, while they taunt the decade-younger Haydée by calling her a little collectionneuse, a collector of men. After a spell of sulking, Adrien is drawn to Haydée. He confesses that he likes her deeply, but his moral code won’t permit him to sleep with her, so he urges her to seduce a easier target in the form of Daniel. The two sleep together for a while, but the fastidious Daniel turns on her and, after insulting her, leaves.

Adrien comforts the hurt girl and conceives a new plan to keep her engaged. He has brought with him a rare Chinese vase to deliver to a rich but crass American collector named Sam, who is struck by Haydée. Sam invites them to his villa for dinner and to spend the night. Adrien agrees with Haydée that he will pretend to have business in the morning and let her seduce Sam. When he returns the next evening to fetch her, Sam insults Adrien while flirting with Haydée, who then knocks over his precious vase.

The couple escapes, and as they drive home Adrien muses that Haydée may be good at heart; with Daniel out of the picture, he imagines spending the last week of his holiday in an easy, affectionate affair with her. But fate intervenes when two men in an Italian sports car recognize Haydée, and she steps out to talk to them. They invite her to join them in Italy, and she retrieves her overnight bag from Adrien’s car. After a period of waiting, Adrien leaves her with the two men and returns to the empty villa alone.

Back at the villa, Adrien confronts the fact that his ideal of tranquil reading and swimming no longer satisfies him in the same way. The choice before him is clear, and with a quiet resolve he reaches for the phone to book a seat on the next plane to London, signaling a final decision to abandon the carefree summer for a different future.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 12:35