The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Death in a French Garden
Crime · Drama · Mystery · 1985
A wealthy wife's affair with her daughter's guitar tutor is threatened when the tutor is attacked and rescued by a hired killer, leading him to suspect their secret is out.
Movie details
Death in a French Garden
“Some eroticism with your thrills!”
1985 Crime · Drama · Mystery 1h 41m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
A wealthy wife's affair with her daughter's guitar tutor is threatened when the tutor is attacked and rescued by a hired killer, leading him to suspect their secret is out.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Death in a French Garden?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Deep Water
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A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
Deadly Circuit
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A P.I. is obsessed with a cute woman, who seduces and kills rich men around W. Europe.
The Blue Room
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In their blue hotel room, a clandestine couple of two married lovers plan an impossible future, as death shutters their already frail tranquillity. Now, the noose tightens more and more around innocents and sinners; but, was there a crime?
Locked In
Mystery · 2021
A single mother must protect her daughter and herself during a heist gone wrong at a high-tech storage facility.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
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A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Michel Deville
Written by
Michel Deville · Rosalinde Deville
Christophe Malavoy
David Aurphet
Nicole Garcia
Julia Tombsthay
Michel Piccoli
Graham Tombsthay
Anémone
Edwige Ledieu
Richard Bohringer
Daniel Forest
Anaïs Jeanneret
Vivianne Tombsthay
Hélène Roussel
Mother
Court is in session
Put Death in a French Garden on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.