Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- psychologically tense
- elegant
- arthouse film night
- french cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly viewed Claude Chabrol's stylish relationship thriller as well acted and sharply observant, though less consistently compelling than his strongest work.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Charles is a celebrated married writer while Paul is heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, making Gabrielle's courtship inseparable from status and control.
Paul's possessiveness and threatening behavior turn the rivalry around Gabrielle into a sustained atmosphere of intimate danger.
Gabrielle begins as a confident weather presenter with career momentum and must struggle to sustain that strength after choosing between two powerful men.
The film uses Lyon's media, literary, and wealthy family milieus to frame romantic conflict through cool observation of class behavior.
Films like A Girl Cut in Two, and why
merci pour le chocolat
Shared french bourgeois satire, erotic rivalry, psychological tension, and morally ambiguous relationship drama.
the little lieutenant
Shared claustrophobic romantic entanglements, social privilege, emotional manipulation, and cool suspense.
swimming pool
Shared french dramatic irony, sexual intrigue, class tensions, and elegant thriller mechanics.
the woman next door
Shared sophisticated relationship comedy, bourgeois dysfunction, and unsettling shifts between wit and menace.
Movie Details
- Director
- Claude Chabrol
- Release Date
- 2007-08-08
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (89)
Cast
- Ludivine Sagnier
- Benoît Magimel
- François Berléand
- Mathilda May
- Caroline Silhol
- Marie Bunel
- Valéria Cavalli
- Etienne Chicot
- Édouard Baer
- Jean-Marie Winling
Common questions
- What is A Girl Cut in Two about?
- A confident Lyon weather presenter becomes the fulcrum of a volatile triangle involving a married novelist and a possessive pharmaceutical heir.
- What is A Girl Cut in Two like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Girl Cut in Two as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Girl Cut in Two violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in A Girl Cut in Two as mild.
- What did critics think of A Girl Cut in Two?
- Critics broadly viewed Claude Chabrol's stylish relationship thriller as well acted and sharply observant, though less consistently compelling than his strongest work.
- Which films are like A Girl Cut in Two?
- Films with a similar feel include merci pour le chocolat, the little lieutenant, swimming pool, and the woman next door.
- How long is A Girl Cut in Two?
- A Girl Cut in Two runs 115 minutes.
