The Girl Cut in Two 2008

Gabrielle, a naive yet charming young woman, resides with her mother in Lyon and works as a weather presenter for a local television station. She soon finds herself the object of desire for two distinctly different suitors. The first is Paul, an arrogant inheritor of a pharmaceutical empire, whose immaturity fails to capture her interest. The other is Charles, a well-known writer significantly older than Gabrielle, who engages her in an affair while his wife is away at their country residence. Under the guidance of Charles, Gabrielle is introduced to the world of intimacy and desire, including excursions to an exclusive sex club that broaden her horizons.

However, after fully savoring the vigor of her youth, Charles unexpectedly vanishes for an extended business trip, plunging Gabrielle into a deep depression. In response to her mother’s growing concern, Paul is allowed to visit, whisking Gabrielle away to Lisbon for a holiday in separate accommodations. There, amid the beauty of the city, she consents to marry him. Yet his widowed mother is horrified, particularly when a prenuptial agreement prevents Gabrielle from accessing any of the family’s wealth. Seeking to avoid friction with the insecure and unpredictable Paul, Gabrielle eventually reveals her past with Charles during their honeymoon.

Their return to Lyon brings them to a lavish charity gala hosted by Paul’s mother, where an unexpected confrontation unfolds. In a tense moment, Paul shoots Charles dead in front of the town’s elite, receiving a surprisingly lenient seven-year sentence in a psychiatric institution. This leaves Gabrielle destitute after Paul divorces her, stripping her of any comfort she once had.

As Gabrielle navigates her sorrowful return home to live with her mother, her uncle introduces a peculiar solution to their financial troubles. He tours with a cheesy magic show, casting Gabrielle, now dressed provocatively, into the role of the girl who is cut in half by a circular saw. Despite the glittering facade of her new life, a closer look reveals that her deep emotional pain remains unrelieved.