Just Before Nightfall is a 1971 film written and directed by Claude Chabrol

Claude Chabrol

Claude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...

, based on the novel of the same name by Edouard Atiyah. Audran won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...

 for her role at the 27th British Academy Film Awards

27th British Academy Film Awards

1974----Best Film: Day for Night The 27th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1974, honoured the best films of 1973.- Best Film : Day for Night * The Day of the Jackal...

.

Plot

Charles Masson (Bouquet

Michel Bouquet

Michel Bouquet is a French film actor. He has appeared in over 90 films since 1947. He was born in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* La petite chambre * Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars...

), an advertising executive

Advertising account executive

An advertising account executive is an employee of a advertising agency who acts as the main link between one or more clients and the rest of the agency. The executive is primarily responsible for the day to day running of one or more client's advertising campaigns...

, is having an affair with Laura (Douking), the wife of his best friend, world renown architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 François Tellier (Périer

François Périer

François Périer, , born François Pillu in Paris, was one of France's most distinguished actors.He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996. He was also prominent in the theatre. Among his most notable parts was that of Hugo in the first production of Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Mains...

). Their sex life consists of sadomasochistic behavior, and in one of their heated sessions, Charles accidentally strangles Laura. Completely confused, Charles leaves the borrowed apartment in Paris and runs into François at a nearby bistro

Bistro

A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical...

. The two drive back together to Versailles, where they have beautiful adjoining houses designed by François. The owner of the apartment had seen Laura and Charles together two months earlier, but she does not tell the police because of François. Even though the police do not seem to have any clues to the crime, Charles has a difficult time coping with the situation, and tries to lead a normal life with his two children and loving wife Hélène (Audran

Stéphane Audran

Stéphane Audran is a French film and television actress, known for her performances in Oscar winning movies such as Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie and Babette's Feast and in critically acclaimed films like The Big Red One and Violette Nozière .She married...

).

Principal cast

Actor	Role
Stéphane Audran Stéphane Audran Stéphane Audran is a French film and television actress, known for her performances in Oscar winning movies such as Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie and Babette's Feast and in critically acclaimed films like The Big Red One and Violette Nozière .She married...	Hélène Masson
François Périer François Périer François Périer, , born François Pillu in Paris, was one of France's most distinguished actors.He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996. He was also prominent in the theatre. Among his most notable parts was that of Hugo in the first production of Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Mains...	François Tellier
Michel Bouquet Michel Bouquet Michel Bouquet is a French film actor. He has appeared in over 90 films since 1947. He was born in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* La petite chambre * Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars...	Charles Masson
Jean Carmet Jean Carmet Jean Carmet, born July 25, 1920 in Bourgueil, Indre-et-Loire, France; died April 20, 1994 in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, was a French actor.-Biography:...	Jeannot
Henri Attal	Cavanna
Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi was a French actor. He played in more than 600 films-Selected filmography:- External links :* *...	Prince
Celia Celia Celia may refer to:*Celia , a 1988 Australian drama film*Celia , a Spanish TV-series based on Elena Fortún's novels*Hurricane Celia, which hit Texas and Cuba in 1970*Celia, the last natural-born Pyrenean Ibex- Fiction :...	Jacqueline
Marina Ninchi	Gina Mallardi
Anna Douking	Laura Tellier
Michel Duchaussoy Michel Duchaussoy Michel Duchaussoy is a French film actor. He has appeared in 130 films since 1962.-Selected filmography:* The Killing Game * The Unfaithful Wife * This Man Must Die * Just Before Nightfall...	Un homme à l'enterrement (uncredited)

Critical reception

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 of The Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

gave the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars:
Mike Sutton of The Digital Fix: