Viper in the Fist

Viper in the Fist (2004) is a French drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Philippe de Broca. It adapts Hervé Bazin's 1948 novel — a book that sold in the millions across France and gave language to a generation raised by cold, controlling parents.

Brittany, the 1920s. Two brothers grow up sheltered in the family estate, cared for by a warm grandmother. Then she dies, their parents return from Indochina, and the household turns. Their mother — Catherine Frot in a performance that makes the skin crawl — treats her sons less like children and more like an inconvenience that arrived on her doorstep. The film is quieter than most portraits of domestic cruelty, which is exactly what makes it sting. Stream Viper in the Fist (2004) online on iFILM.