La Cérémonie

Sophie, taken on as a maid by a wealthy family in Brittany, is hiding something: she cannot read. She befriends Jeanne, the local postmistress, and the resentment Jeanne carries toward the upper class grows fast between them. Claude Chabrol directed and co-wrote, from Ruth Rendell's 1977 novel A Judgement in Stone. Sandrine Bonnaire plays Sophie and Isabelle Huppert plays Jeanne. The two shared the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, and Huppert also took the César for Best Actress. Twenty-six of twenty-eight Rotten Tomatoes reviews are positive, putting it at 93 percent. Roger Ebert added it to his Great Movies list and The Guardian counted it among the finest crime dramas in cinema. One connection has raised its standing further: Bong Joon-ho named it as his primary inspiration for Parasite. Who it is for: viewers who like class tension handled coldly, and anyone who wants to watch two great actresses. Who it is not for: anyone who would rather not arrive at the last ten minutes unprepared. The film moves calmly for a long time and then turns hard with no warning.