Just Before Nightfall

Charles Masson (Michel Bouquet), a married businessman, has killed his mistress, the wife of his closest friend, and he cannot carry it quietly. He wants to confess, first to his own wife, Hélène (Stéphane Audran), then to the dead woman's husband, François (François Périer). Claude Chabrol keeps the household calm and civil while Charles circles the words he needs to say, wanting punishment more than he can bear to ask for it.