Les parents terribles

Adapted from the play of the same name written by Jean Cocteau ten years earlier, Les parents terribles is a claustrophobic family melodrama shaped by jealousy, dependency and manipulation. When the young Michel announces that he intends to marry Madeleine, the news unleashes tensions and reveals hidden secrets that threaten to destroy the family. Keeping the dialogue faithful to the original text, Cocteau explores new formal freedoms in this cinematic adaptation without losing the play’s stage intensity. Far removed from the fantastical tone of his better-known works, the film stands out for its rigorous staging and the emotional violence of its family relationships.