Traitement De Choc (aka Shock Treatment) (1973)

Recently dumped by her lover, an aging businesswoman (Annie Girardot) books herself into an expensive private clinic where a doctor (Alain Delon) is known for his rejuvenating process. The wealthy clientele are serviced by unskilled Portuguese workers who are healthy upon arrival but quickly turn sickly. She becomes suspicious and quietly investigates but what she finds out is incredible. Directed by Alain Jessua, this is a well done thriller with a slight satiric edge as it comments on the shallowness and narcissism of aging rich white people exploiting the poor to maintain their status quo. I was hoping for a cathartic ending but the film's downbeat finale seems more in tune with the film's theme. Girardot and Delon are fine and director Jessua keeps the paranoid atmosphere tight although I couldn't help wonder why, after sensing something is horribly wrong, Girardot doesn't get her ass out of there instead of sticking her nose where it can only be detrimental to her. Still, I suppose if she didn't, we wouldn't have a movie! With Robert Hirsch and Jean Francois Calve.