At the start of World War I, Nélie Laborde (Lyna Khoudri), an ambitious and educated sex worker leaves her dreary and desperate life behind to become a front line nurse for the Red Cross. When she witnesses an affluent woman, Rose, perish in an explosion, Nélie seizes an opportunity to dramatically advance her social standing by assuming Rose’s identity and inserting herself into the life and home of wealthy widow Madame de Lengwil (a phenomenal Sabine Azéma). Loosely adapting Wilkie Collins' 1873 novel The New Magdalen, director Aurélia Georges repositions the British tale of class and gender relations to German-occupied France in 1914, though her perspective is thoroughly contemporary. Georges fuses together a handsome costume drama, a wry social critique and an intense thriller in expert fashion, while Khoudri's captivating and complex central performance is the glue that holds it all beautifully in place.