AllMovie

Director Tonino de Bernardi reworks the tragic myth of Medea into a passionate tale of a nightclub singer abandoned by her husband and forced to care for their two children alone. Irene (Isabelle Huppert) left her homeland in pursuit of Jason, the love of her life. Now Irene is a stranger in a strange land, yet she and her husband Jason live comfortably in a Parisian banlieu with their two children. The couple also owns a nightclub where Irene is the featured entertainer. Though everything seems to be in place for a happy future, Irene suddenly finds herself tumbling into despair after Jason inexplicably abandons his wife and their two young daughters. But Irene has also been caring for a mute girl named Martha who she had brought with her from home, and now the pressure of being a single mother to three children is taking a heavy psychological toll. Consumed by madness yet refusing to lash out violently towards those around her, Irene finds her life forever changed after crossing paths with an exploited Rumanian girl named Marcela.