Unease threads its way throughout Chabrol's delicate thriller. The complex family relationships - hidden, opaque, mysterious - are echoed in Isabelle Huppert's almost robotic stepmother: so controlled, unknowable even to herself, hiding behind her almost permanent warm smile as she tries to eliminate family members via poisoned hot chocolate. Huppert is of course superb. It's a pity that Jacques Dutronc as her husband doesn't match her.

This is the film for you if you like piano recitals and domestic crime dramas. The plot has some intriguing twists and its somewhat thought provoking. Its interesting to see how the man reacts when the accusations are told to him. Watching various characters interact and admit their fears or concerns to others is certainly interesting. Its quite satisfying to see how things play out and the performances are decent too, especially by Isabelle Huppert, who plays the scheming Mar-eClaire aka 'Mika' Muller. There's certainly an element of manipulation at play, though I won't elaborate even further, so as not to provide any more/accidental spoilers. There does appear to be an element of handbags at dawn about this film though, its fair to say. Its about family secrets and being truthful. I thought it had the feel of a theatrical play about it - a play about a crime, perhaps slightly Poirot-esque (well it is French). It's a film for you if you like subtle but underhanded films about sneaky women, I suppose. Yes, I'd recommend this film.

Nightcap, also known as Merci pour le Chocolat, was based on the novel The Chocolate Cobweb by Charlotte Armstrong. It's directed and co-written (with Caroline Eliacheff) by Claude Chabrol, whose career is being re-released by Arrow Video in several box sets. André Polonski (Jacques Dutronc) is an internationally recognized concert pianist whose love life is interesting to say the least. He was first married to Mika Muller (Isabelle Huppert), the owner of a chocolate company before he left her for Lisbeth, the mother of his son Guillaume. When Mika dies in an automobile accident, he finds himself back in Mika's arms and they're soon married. Guillaume is listless and doesn't care for anything, while André abuses sleeping pills and ignores Mika. When a potential student Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis) arrives, she sees bad intentions in everyone. And as for her, she may be André's daughter. And as for Mika, she may have murdered Lisbeth and is definitely poisoning Guillaume with the hot chocolate she serves him every night. Shot in the home of David Bowie, Chabrol found himself turning to Hitchcock while making this film, if the poison-laced hot chocolate is any indication, as it's so close to the arsenic coffee from Notorious. John Waters selected this movie in his top ten films for 2002, saying "It's her again. Isabelle Huppert poisons her family, and Claude Chabrol tells her how to do it with cinematic perfection." He's right. If you ever need to cast a dispassionate murderess, always go with Isabelle Huppert.

Isabelle Huppert can master all characters with ease, but she is most good at playing sinister women.

A truly loveliest european film with wise plot ,wonderful actresses and the prettiest setting !

Se Isabelle Huppert me oferecesse um chocolate, eu beberia este chocolate.

Who wrote the Movie Info? Obviously they were not awake during the film ... the plot is different ....

one of the least enjoyed chabrol film so far. started off alright... didn't hit payoff (pay)dirt for me.

This movie has everything that I love: piano, chocolate, and thoughts on jealousy and vulnerability. At the same time, this movie is very sensual. Love it!

I found the Book and the Movie very interesting, although the book was a little bit more detailed on "Hot Chocolate" Reminds me of some screaming I heard: Say NO TO DRUGS!

Critics should expect more than what they are willing to embrace. Yes, the music is glorious, and the plot urges the listener to "taste" it in small portions that make one wish for more (I for one will be seeking out the music played within). But other than that, this film reminds me of typical television crime twaddle, bathed in better cinematography. Mika is such an obvious villain--she practically drools with sinister intent throughout--that it reminds me of nothing so much as children's theatre in which the kids are meant to shout out loud 'Watch out for the wolf!" Skip this. Buy the Liszt CD instead.

I admit there's thrill in atmosphere , but plot is nothing more than soap operas. The worst thing is that the motive of charactor's action is very ambiguous. At least, I don't understand at all what the director of this film want to show off.

The kiss of the spider woman.

Bad acting, boring dialogues, beautiful music.

I couldn't believe how much the pianist looked like David Bowie, only to find out that the film was shot in Bowie's house. Coincidence?

basrollerini isabelle huppert, jacques dutronc, anna mouglalis ve rodolphe pauly paylastıg, senaryosu charlotte armstrong'a ait montreal ve louis delluc ödullu film.

Sehr ruhiger Chabrol der mir ganz gut gefallen hat. Vor allem Isabelle Huppert war wieder einmal klasse, vor dieser Frau habe ich einfach unfassbar viel Angst. :D 3/5

Not Chabrol's best film, but it is still worth seeing. Huppert is flawless as usual. Very Hitchcock.

Ce film ressemble un peu a "Masques", mais la fin est plus subtile.

A film which starts, you imagine, as a nice French / Swiss comedy of manners as a rich, talented couple remarry after a separation of some twenty years or so. She is the owner of company which makes legendary drinking chocolate. He, André, is a concert pianist. They appear blissfully happy - she, Mika, had remained friends with his in-between wife, had comforted him after her tragic death, and had readily assumed the role of mother to his teenage son, Guillaume. Bliss. Enter a young music student, a tall elegantly beautiful young woman, Jeanne, who dreams of being a concert pianist. She learns from her mother that there had been mix-up at the hospital the night she was born, the famous concert pianist believing for a time that she was his child. She sets out to visit the pianist - with all the potential for dramatic (or even comic) tension as the happy families are torn apart. What she uncovers is the nature of evil. Mika, so sweet and helpful and caring, has a pathological disregard for others. She manipulates - with her wealth, her beauty, her charm, her sweetness, or any other weapon she can find. This is a beautifully made film. Isabelle Huppert and Anna Mougalis are outstanding. As an exploration of evil, it has great quality. But it is a film which doesn't really work. You can see where the story is going, you can enjoy the building tension, but ultimately the conclusion feels a bit tame. Except, Mika sheds a tear for her loss. Her husband does not. You wonder if he is so anaesthetised to any emotion other than the ones he experiences through music that he must share complicity in her crimes. He is so absorbed in his own self-importance as maestro, he simply fails to engage in the world around him. The pair are, indeed, suited to one another, but which one is most responsible for her crimes? Claude Chabrol (Isabelle Huppert's husband) regularly makes liberal use of music in his films and this one is no exception. The direction of the piece echoes the changing mood of a concerto. The visuals are always elegant. And he celebrates his actors, particularly the female ones. This is an enjoyable film, and one which benefits from the 'making of' documentary and interview with Huppert which are offered as extras, but it is not Chabrol's best. A film to be enjoyed more for the quality of its acting than for its narrative satisfaction.