In 1933 France, the story follows Christine, a servant who works for the well-to-do, aging Madame Danzard and her teenage daughter Isabelle. When Christine’s younger sister, Lea, is hired on Christine’s recommendation, a quiet tension begins to smolder between the two households. The lines dividing class and privilege feel rigid and unyielding, and the Danzards look down on the sisters for small, almost petty differences. Over time, the two pairs of women stop addressing one another directly, choosing to speak through their respective rooms, doors, and the thin barrier of social status that separates them.
With little else to cling to, Christine and Lea grow increasingly dependent on one another, and their bond takes on a charged, intimate edge that mirrors—and intensifies—the broader strain between the sisters and their employers. The sisters’ relationship becomes sexual, a source of both solace and fear, while both women carry the weight of trauma shaped by a difficult relationship with their mother and the expectations of the church. Lea, who was always their mother’s favorite, is urged by Christine to start keeping more of their earnings for themselves, a decision that sparks a rift between the siblings and ultimately leads to a severed connection with their mother. As they cut ties, Lea and Christine find themselves with a bit more money, yet their work suffers: they grow thinner, more exhausted, and their employer notices the decline with cold, precise scrutiny.
Rumors begin to swirl about Isabelle’s upcoming marriage and moving out of the household, and Christine’s paranoia grows that Lea might leave her behind when that moment arrives. Lea reassures her sister that this will not happen, but Christine’s fear curdles into a feeling that she might be a monster—a shadow of her mother’s legacy—while Lea remains emotionally fragile and steadfastly by her side.
A single accident—an iron fuse blows and sets Isabelle’s blouse on fire while Lea is preparing it—becomes a turning point. With money tight and time short, the sisters try to explain the incident to the Danzards, but the widow reveals she is aware of the sisters’ complicated, even incestuous, relationship and warns that they will never work again if that knowledge becomes public. The revelation ignites a brutal, uncontrolled rage in the sisters, and they murder the widow and her daughter in a burst of emotional and physical violence.
The film closes on the aftermath, framed by a crime report that details the decayed state of the bodies as a caretaker or investigator knocks on the mansion door. Inside, the sisters cling to each other in a desperate, frightened embrace as the soundscape fills with the investigator’s methodical questions and Christine’s fractured scream for Lea. The scene lingers in a mood of unresolved guilt and mutual dependence, leaving a stark impression of how tightly bound love, fear, and power can become when severed from mercy and justice.
