Film

Thérèse Raquin

Name: Thérèse Raquin
Genre: Drama
Released: 1928
Cast: Gina Manès, Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Jeanne Marie-Laurent, Wolfgang Zilzer, La Jana

Drama
Crime
Very dark

A silent German-French co-production of Zola's claustrophobic novel about adultery and murder. Thérèse and her lover drown her husband, then descend into psychological torment as guilt poisons everything. Expressionist in mood, hypnotic in its fixation on damaged souls trapped by consequence. For anyone drawn to silent cinema's capacity for interior darkness.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you are drawn to slow, claustrophobic melodrama where the camera lingers on faces and the dread builds from small domestic gestures rather than plot.

Skip it if you want quick cuts, bright company or a story that lightens up; the performances are broad and the mood stays bleak from start to finish.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes, unhurried and close-framed; it wants you to settle into quiet scenes and read faces more than dialogue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Thérèse Raquin

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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The Golem: How He Came into the World poster

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