An eccentric musical murder mystery, pitched somewhere between melodrama and farce, 8 Women takes place over the course of one eventful day in the countryside retreat of Marcel, a wealthy industrialist.
His wife Gaby (Deneuve) brings her eldest daughter Suzon (Ledoyen) home for Christmas. However Marcel is found murdered in his bed and the women of the house, Gaby, Suzon, his other daughter Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier), his mother-in-law Mamy (Darrieux), her daughter Augustine (Huppert), the housekeeper Chanel (Firmine Richard) and the maid Louise (Beart), are all suspects. When Marcel's sister, Pierrette (Fanny Ardant) shows up at the isolated snowbound house, the women all engage in a reckless game of accusations and counter accusations, which helps to reveal some secrets about their lives.
For its first hour, 8 Women is an intoxicating affair, all garnish couture, outfits, vintage Technicolor and, of course, the elegance of the actresses, some of the most accomplished in French cinema history. After these dizzy heights are scaled (Deneuve doing a song and dance routine is one of the sights of the cinematic year) Ozon fails to maintain this momentum for the final hour. And while it never is less than engaging and visually sumptuous, 8 Women's runs out of steam long before the film reaches its unnatural conclusion.
