Death Rite
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Claude Chabrol
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Strange passions and personalities collide at a holiday resort hotel in Tunisia. Vestar the stage magician, a clairvoyant, meets the wealthy but rather sinister Edouard. On their way to the hotel, Vestar claims that he has had a vision of a woman being murdered in the desert. Edouard, a member of the idle rich, decides to use his influence to make the prediction come true. Also arriving at the hotel are Sadry, returning home to visit his dying mother, and his irritating wife Sylvia. Staying at the hotel is Martine, an ex-girlfriend of Sabry who would like to spark the old passion again. The marriage is strained when Sylvia finds them together. It appears that the prophesied murder is connected with Sylvia. Vestar predicts certain details about her death that Edouard works to make authentic, although in fact his meddling alters the results. Sadry grapples with a variety of tensions and anger as events build toward the destiny of the three in the love triangle. It is said that this story is based on the novel Initiation au Meurtre, by best-selling French author Frederic Dard.