In Passy, Paris, 1895. The young widow Hélène calls the doctor Henri Deberle during the night, when her daughter Jeanne suddenly gets breathless. Together they spend the night at the bedside, and it develops from a trusting encounter a love relationship. When the doctor Hélène one day confesses his love, the daughter comes from jealousy in another, life-threatening crisis. A film adaptation of the eponymous novel by Émile Zola, which addresses the social milieu of the bourgeois family in the "Second Empire".
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
 Anouk AiméeHélène | Hélène |
 Bruno CremerLe docteur Henri Deberle | Le docteur Henri Deberle |
| FFrédérique AlexandreJeanne | Jeanne |
 Nelly BorgeaudJuliette Deberle | Juliette Deberle |
 Maxime AlexandreLucien Deberle | Lucien Deberle |
 Jean-Pierre CastaldiM. Rambaud | M. Rambaud |
 Jean-François BalmerL'abbé Jouve | L'abbé Jouve |
 Christine DejouxRosalie | Rosalie |
 Catherine HiegelPauline, soeur de Juliette | Pauline, soeur de Juliette |
 Jean-Luc BouttéMalignon | Malignon |
 Jacques MauclairLe père de Pauline et Juliette | Le père de Pauline et Juliette |
| IInigo LezziPierre, le domestique | Pierre, le domestique |
| DDorothy MarchiniMiss Smithson, la nurse | Miss Smithson, la nurse |
 René BoulocLe docteur Bodin | Le docteur Bodin |