Elaine Briand (Nicole Garcia) and her husband, the architect David Briand (Jean-Pierre Bacri), live with their six-year-old daughter Cric Briand (Cerise Leclerc) in a huge house he designed in the countryside. Elaine and Cric miss their life in Paris since they have no friends, and David is broken since he is waiting a few days to sign with his partner Alain Milles (Jean-Pierre Malo) an important contract of a project designed by him. When David is leaving his real estate to work, he meets a lame man without a hand, Cappy Bronsky (Jean-Pierre Bisson) driving a car pulling a trailer with his wife Hazel Bronsky (Dominique Lavanant) and their daughter Betty (Céline Vauge) on the exit of his gate. Cappy tells David that he lost his arm an damaged his leg when a building where he was a worker collapsed on him and other workers due to the low quality of the materials. Then he asks for a job as gardener to David and he hires him. Later he meets Elaine's former employer and friend, Christian (Etienne Chicot), who owns a studio, and invites him to visit them. Christian asks Elaine to work with him again, but now she has Cric; however, she asks Hazel if she can take care of her daughter during the day, and she accepts. Soon Cric changes her behavior with her mother that believes she is not adapted to Hazel. Later, when David reads the news on Alain's newspaper, he tells his partner why he hired Cappy and drives home, where secrets are disclosed with tragic conclusion.
"Mort un dimanche de pluie" is a French thriller with a tense story. It is impressive how the plot has not aged after almost forty years and keeps the viewer distressed with the cruelties of the psychopath Hazel Bronsky. David Briand is too naive, hiring a sinister disabled man for pity due to his feeling of guilty and not suspecting that he might have a revenge scheme. The final scene is kind of corny. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Morte num Domingo de Chuva" ("Death in a Rainy Sunday")
