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Les Enfants terribles

Original title: The Terrible Children

“A love story by Jean Cocteau”

1950 · 1 h 45 min
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville · France · French New Wave
Drama

Where to watch in the United States: Stream: Criterion Channel. Streaming data from JustWatch via TMDB; availability changes.

Cast

Nicole Stéphane Édouard Dermithe Jacques Bernard Renée Cosima

Plot

Elisabeth and her brother Paul live isolated from much of the world after Paul is injured in a snowball fight. As a coping mechanism, the two conjure up a hermetic dream of their own making. Their relationship, however, isn't exactly wholesome. Jealousy and a malevolent undercurrent intrude on their fantasy when Elisabeth invites the strange Agathe to stay with them -- and Paul is immediately attracted to her.

Sinekatalog’s take

Jean-Pierre Melville's Cocteau adaptation shuts a brother and sister in a private world of games and destructive devotion. Eerie, theatrical and hypnotic, with Nicole Stéphane unforgettable, it is a stylised, claustrophobic cult favourite.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

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Ratings

IMDb: 6.9 / 10 (4,627 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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