Christine (Joely Richardson) is the maid of a well-to-do widow (Julie Walters) and her daughter (Sophie Thursfield). Her sister, Lea (Jodhi May) is hired on the recommendation of Christine. The two sisters become increasingly alienated from their employer, separated by barriers between the classes. With only each other to turn to and Christine experiencing much jealousy as to her sister's interest in anyone else, the relationship becomes sexual, adding to the tension between the sisters and their employer. The tension ultimately leads to paranoia, repressed rage and murder.
The film is based on a true incident in Le Mans, France in 1933 called the Papin murder case, where two sisters brutally murdered their employer and her daughter. The Papin case was also the subject of «The Maids», the reknown play by Jean Genet written in 1949. |
