The Bride Wore Black

Julie Kohler attempts to end her life by jumping from an upstairs window, but her mother intervenes just in time. After the failed act, Julie packs clothes and a large sum of money, says goodbye to her mother, and leaves on a journey that will shape her path of murder. The scene sets the motive of escape and secrecy that follows.

On the French Riviera, Julie tracks Bliss, a reformed womanizer, and attends his engagement party at his high-rise apartment. She lures him onto the balcony, prompting him to retrieve her scarf in exchange for revealing her identity. When he ascends, she tells him who she is and pushes him to his death before fleeing.

Julie lures Robert Coral to a scheduled meeting after a classical music concert. She buys a bottle of arak and injects a syringe with poison into it, then serves him the tainted drink at his studio apartment. He collapses in agony as she reveals her identity, and a flashback later reveals the groom's death as Julie's past.

Julie follows Clément Morane to his suburban home and befriends his wife while charming their young son Cookie. She pretends to be Cookie's teacher, Miss Becker, and accepts an invitation to stay for dinner. When Morane crawls into a hidden cupboard to search for a lost ring, she locks the door and unmasks her identity, leaving him to plead that the death was an accident.

A flashback reveals Julie's husband was killed by a rifle shot in a careless moment by Delvaux, a member of an informal hunting club that also included Bliss, Coral, Morane and Fergus. The five men attempt to hide their involvement as they drift apart. Julie, unmoved by guilt, seals Morane in the cupboard with duct tape, leaving him to suffocate.

The real Miss Becker is arrested after Cookie tells the police that she killed his father. Julie then makes an anonymous phone call claiming responsibility for the murder, effectively exonerating the teacher. The incident marks Julie’s growing ability to manipulate the police narrative.

Julie waits in Delvaux's junkyard with a plan to kill him with a handgun, only to learn he has been arrested by police for selling stolen cars. She moves on to the fifth hunter in the group, Fergus, continuing her sequence of killings.

Julie becomes Fergus's artistic model, posing for a series of hunting-themed illustrations depicting the huntress Diana. Fergus confesses his growing feelings for her, but she rebuffs him and eventually shoots him in the back with an arrow. She then discovers a nude mural of herself in his studio and contemplates painting over it before leaving the image intact.

At Fergus's funeral, Corey, a friend of Bliss and Fergus, recognizes Julie from Bliss's engagement party, hinting at her dangerous reputation. Julie attends the funeral with a cool, controlled demeanor, reinforcing her hold over the narrative and those around her.

In a stark confrontation, Julie confesses to murdering the four men but refuses to disclose her motives. She is placed in the same prison as Delvaux, and the police begin to close the case with her in custody.

While helping matrons in the prison kitchen, Julie hides a kitchen knife and uses it to stab Delvaux off-screen. The act completes her sequence of killings and seals her fate within the prison system.