Synopsis
Based on the true story of two chambermaids (the Papin sisters) of 1930s France who murdered their employer and her daughter. Christine Papin and Léa Papin are sisters with an already troubled past. Madame Lancelin takes them into her home and employs the girls as maids. Christine sees in Madame Lancelin an ideal mother figure — in spite of her severity. But their wretched background — an indifferent mother and drunken abusive father — casts a shadow over the girls and over time their ill-fated situation darkens. The sisters withdraw into themselves and finish by committing the worst — killing Madame Lancelin and her daughter after six years of service, on the 2 February 1933 in Le Mans.
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Cast
- Julie-Marie ParmentierLéa Papin
- Sylvie TestudChristine Papin
- Isabelle RenauldClémence
- François Levantalle Gazé
- Dominique Labouriermadame Lancelin
- Jean-Gabriel Nordmannmonsieur Lancelin
- Marie DonnioGeneviève Lancelin
- Lily BoulogneAlberta
Recommendations
- 90
Los Angeles Times
Denis and Testud, in a wondrous collaboration of a gifted director and equally gifted actress, succeed in making Christine a tragic figure. - 90
Washington Post
The movie avoids sensationalism. What it requires and what it delivers is performance. - 80
The A.V. Club
Doesn't shy away from the social or psychological explanations of the Le Mans murders, but never comes down on one side or another. - 80
TV Guide Magazine
Nearly 75 years after the fact, the matter still hasn't given up all its secrets, but Denis' film comes close to a definitive, deeply disturbing account. - 80
New Times (L.A.)
The film proves unrelentingly grim -- and equally engrossing. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Sylvie Testud gives such a ferociously controlled performance that the messy murder seems like a necessary release. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
The old saying, "It's hard to find good help nowadays" takes on a new meaning in Murderous Maids. - 75
Boston Globe
May ultimately be no more than the sum of its (body) parts, but it's still a ghastly service-industry horror story - a film to make you wonder what might be roiling beneath the surface of the placid young woman who hands you your Grande Latte every morning.
