General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

The Crime Is Mine

The Crime Is Mine (French: Mon crime) is a 2023 French comedy film directed by François Ozon, freely adapted from the 1934 play Mon Crime by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil. Set in Paris in 1935, it follows Madeleine Verdier, a penniless young actress accused of murdering a famous theater producer who had made advances toward her. With the help of her roommate Pauline, an unemployed lawyer, she pleads guilty in the hope of winning an acquittal on grounds of self-defense, and the trial makes her a celebrity, until the truth comes out.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title / year	Mon crime, France and Belgium, 2023¹
Director and writers	Directed by François Ozon; screenplay by Ozon and Philippe Piazzo, from the 1934 play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil¹
Lead cast	Nadia Tereszkiewicz as Madeleine Verdier, Rebecca Marder as Pauline Mauléon, Isabelle Huppert as Odette Chaumette¹
Runtime and language	102 minutes, in French¹^•³
French release	March 8, 2023¹
Worldwide box office	$10,474,934, of which $4,905,742 from France⁴
Critical reception	98% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 64 reviews; Metascore 74 on Metacritic⁵^•⁶
Recognition	César nomination for Best Costume Design (Pascaline Chavanne); IFMCA nomination for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film (Philippe Rombi)⁷

Spoilers

Plot

Madeleine and Pauline are roommates in 1930s Paris, sharing a cramped flat and owing five months' rent. After a famous theatrical producer who made an inappropriate advance toward Madeleine turns up dead, Madeleine becomes the prime suspect. Rather than face ruin, she decides to plead guilty, exposing her "victim" as a casting-couch predator, and Pauline defends her in court, turning the trial into a public sensation. She is acquitted on the grounds of self-defense, and fame, wealth, and tabloid celebrity follow.¹^•²^•³

The story turns when Odette Chaumette, a faded stage and silent film star played by Isabelle Huppert, appears claiming to be the real murderess and seeking a share of the notoriety to restart her own career, putting Madeleine at risk of being exposed as completely innocent.³^•⁸

Cast and crew

Nadia Tereszkiewicz plays Madeleine Verdier and Rebecca Marder plays Pauline Mauléon. The supporting cast includes Isabelle Huppert as Odette Chaumette, Fabrice Luchini as the investigating judge Rabusset, Dany Boon as Palmarède, André Dussollier as M. Bonnard, Michel Fau as the public prosecutor, and Félix Lefebvre.¹^•²

Behind the camera, the film was produced by Éric and Nicolas Altmayer, photographed by Manu Dacosse, edited by Laure Gardette, and scored by Philippe Rombi, with costume design by Pascaline Chavanne and production design by Jean Rabasse.¹^•²

Adaptation and themes

The film is the third screen adaptation of the 1934 play, after the Hollywood screwball comedies True Confession (1937) and Cross My Heart (1946).⁹ Ozon retained the play's 1930s setting but freely adapted the plot to resonate with contemporary concerns about power and gender politics, and he described the film as playing with the parallels between theater and the justice system. In his own account, he leaned into the spirit of screwball comedy and called the film the final installment in a trilogy with 8 Women and Potiche, all three exploring the status of women with humor and glamour.¹⁰

Reviewers read the film through a #MeToo lens. The Guardian's review described a courtroom comedy that shades close to #MeToo themes, and a List review argued that its tongue-in-cheek treatment of casting-couch harassment and institutional sexism can leave a sour taste given the French film industry's response to the movement, while still praising its theatricality and chic costumes.¹¹^•¹²

Release and reception

The film opened in France on March 8, 2023, followed by Italy on April 25 and Spain on May 5.¹ It premiered as the opening film of the Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers and was Ozon's 22nd feature.¹³ Music Box Films gave it a limited United States release on December 25, 2023, with streaming on Prime Video from February 13, 2024.⁴^•⁵

It earned $10,474,934 worldwide, with $4,905,742 from France and $122,083 in the United States.⁴ Critics responded warmly: the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus called it seductive fare for farce lovers and Francophiles, and the site recorded 98% positive reviews from 64 critics; Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 74 based on 11 reviews, indicating generally favorable reception.⁵^•⁶ Isabelle Huppert's late-arriving Odette drew particular praise, with the Observer's Wendy Ide calling her sublimely silly and single-handedly worth the price of admission.⁵

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026