My Night at Maud's

My Night at Maud's (Ma nuit chez Maud, 1969), directed by Éric Rohmer, is available to watch online on iFILM — the third of his Six Moral Tales, a black-and-white talk piece about faith, doubt and one very long evening.

An unnamed Catholic engineer (Jean-Louis Trintignant) works at the Michelin plant in Clermont-Ferrand and has already decided he'll marry a woman he has only ever watched at Mass. Just before Christmas he bumps into an old Marxist friend, who introduces him to the divorced, unhurried Maud (Françoise Fabian). Snow outside, a drink in hand, an all-night argument about Pascal, chance and free will — and an invitation to stay that quietly tests every principle he holds.

Rohmer builds almost the whole film out of conversation: these people debate Pascal's wager and the mathematics of grace as if their lives hang on it. They do. The film earned two Oscar nominations — Best Foreign Language Film and, later, Best Original Screenplay — rare reach for something this intimate. It's for viewers who like their tension riding on an idea rather than a plot. Stream My Night at Maud's online on iFILM.