Release, runtime and language

1982 · 110 mins · French

Directed by

Alain Jessua

Starring

Stéphane Audran, Anna Gaylor, Philippe Léotard, Elisabeth Mortensen, Patrick Dewaere, Ophélie Koering

Doctor Valois creates “flashage,” a treatment that erases depression. After successful trials on monkeys he administers it to his first human patient, Alain Durieux, whose rapid happiness alarms his wife Jeanne, who notices a stark personality shift. Other patients respond similarly, but the uncured monkeys grow frantic in reaction to the unnaturally steady, stereotyped conduct of the treated animals—and humans begin to exhibit comparable side‑effects. Confronted with an unstoppable cascade, Valois ultimately chooses to flash himself.