When two cousins, one essentially a country bumpkin and the other a
slick city boy, begin studying law together in Paris and go into
competition for the same girl, it is a battle to the death. This
survival of the fittest pits the two young man against each other and
brings out the best and the worst in each of them. Chabrol's directorial
effort is almost parable-like in its depiction of might versus right.
