Lady J

Lady J (Mademoiselle de Joncquières, 2018) is a French costume drama you can watch online on iFILM. Director Emmanuel Mouret sets his story in the drawing rooms of the 18th century, where a wounded heart turns into a long, patient weapon.

Madame de La Pommeraye is a widow who has sworn off romance until the charming libertine Marquis des Arcis wears down her defences. Once she gives in, his passion fades — and her humiliation hardens into a scheme. She recruits a poor young woman, the title's Mademoiselle de Joncquières, to bait the marquis into a trap he never sees coming. Cécile de France plays the architect of revenge with a controlled, glacial calm, while Édouard Baer's nobleman keeps thinking he is the one in charge.

The plot comes from an episode in Diderot's novel Jacques the Fatalist, and Mouret keeps its real battlefield in the dialogue: voices stay low, glances do the cutting. If you enjoyed the moral chess of Dangerous Liaisons, this slow-burn period piece is for you. Stream Lady J (2018) online on iFILM.