Movie

This Man Must Die

1969 · 113 min

A cold, methodical descent into vengeance, watching a grieving man's quiet obsession curdle into something unsettling and quietly devastating.

Tagline: Still the most exciting, the most savage sport of all... man hunting man.
Overview: When his young son is killed in a hit and run accident, Charles Thenier resolves to hunt down and murder the killer. By chance, Thenier makes the acquaintance of an actress, Helène Lanson, who was in the car at the time of the accident. He then meets Helène’s brother-in-law, Paul Decourt, a truly horrible individual.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: darkstrength 3 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
cynicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: revenge
grief
obsession
morality
family
Places: countryside
sea
small town
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: twist ending
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	3
Horror	2
Humour	2
Realism	8
Romance	3
Tension	7
Darkness	8
Complexity	7
Emotional weight	8

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Where to watch in the UK

Stream

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Details

Genres: thriller, drama, crime
Directed by: Claude Chabrol
Written by: Claude Chabrol, Paul Gégauff
Starring: Michel Duchaussoy, Caroline Cellier, Jean Yanne, Marc Di Napoli, Anouk Ferjac, Louise Chevalier, Guy Marly, Lorraine Rainer
Music: Pierre Jansen
Cinematography: Jean Rabier
Runtime: 113 min
Country: France, Italy
Languages: French

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This Man Must Die

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