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As gorgeously crafted as it is absolutely chilling, Chabrol’s adaptation of Ruth Rendell’s 1977 novel A Judgement in Stone, with hints of Genet’s The Maids, is widely considered the director’s crowning achievement. Korean director Park Chan Wook has also cited the film as a major influence, and a direct inspiration for Parasite. 

When Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) hires the enigmatic, taciturn Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire) as a maid at her family’s remote mansion, only a slight unease ripples beneath the discreet formality of La Cérémonie. Detached and automated, Sophie’s odd behavior quietly evolves from mildly amusing to inexplicably disturbing. As the family’s charitable attempts to comprehend Sophie’s idiosyncrasies fall flat, she latches onto the town’s eccentric postmistress (Isabelle Huppert) who fills Sophie’s silences with her own bitter assumptions about the wealthy family’s sins and excesses. Disrupting social convention, the symbiotic duo uncover subtle layers of hypocrisy and condescension among a comfortable society bound by unspoken contracts and rituals. Sophie’s secret flaw only explains part of the cold ceremony she too seems ordained to conduct. 

Directed by Claude Chabrol 

1995 | France, Germany | French language with English subtitles | 4K DCP

Concessions

Concessions are available for all screenings and the Harris Theater is a BYOB venue. Guests who bring alcoholic beverages must be 21 years or older and provide a valid photo ID upon request. A $5 charge will be issued per guest.