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The Margin

The Margin

Drama · 1976

A businessman leaves his country home, and wife and young son for a business trip to Paris. While there he develops a sexual and spiritual bond with a call girl.

Movie details

The Margin

“The line between love and lechery.”

1976 Drama 1h 28m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

A businessman leaves his country home, and wife and young son for a business trip to Paris. While there he develops a sexual and spiritual bond with a call girl.

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 The Margin?

The 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.

The Last Woman

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Enter the Void

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This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.

Vivre Sa Vie

Vivre Sa Vie

Drama · 1962

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

Trafficked

Trafficked

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In this story inspired by real characters, three girls from America, Nigeria and India are trafficked through an elaborate global network and enslaved in a Texas brothel, and must together attempt a daring escape to reclaim their freedom.

Serie Noire

Serie Noire

Drama · 1979

In the shadowy outskirts of Paris, a desperate door-to-door salesman crosses paths with a mysterious young woman trapped in a grim world. As his obsession deepens, his grip on reality begins to slip—and the line between escape and destruction starts to blur.

Pimp

Pimp

Drama · 2018

An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.

Ares

Ares

Sci-fi · 2016

In a near future, the world order has changed. With its 10 millions of unemployed citizens, France has now become a poor country. Its people wavers between rebellion and resignation and find an outlet in the shape of TV broadcast ultra brutal fights in which the players are legally doped and unscrupulous.

Querelle

Querelle

Drama · 1982

French sailor Querelle arrives in Brest and starts frequenting a strange whorehouse. He discovers that his brother Robert is the lover of the lady owner, Lysiane. Here, you can play dice with Nono, Lysiane's husband: if you win, you are allowed to make love with Lysiane; if you lose, you have to make love with Nono... Querelle loses on purpose.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

Crime · 1989

When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Walerian Borowczyk

Written by

André Pieyre de Mandiargues

Sylvia Kristel

Sylvia Kristel

Diana

Joe Dallesandro

Joe Dallesandro

Sigimond Pons

André Falcon

André Falcon

Antonin Pons

Mireille Audibert

Mireille Audibert

Sergine Pons

Denis Manuel

Denis Manuel

Le moustachu

Louise Chevalier

Louise Chevalier

Feline

E

Emmanuel Franval

Cast

Court is in session

Put The Margin on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.