"The police find a body in the river that has a unique identifier; like Genessier's daughter, the woman's eyes are the only part of her face still intact. Dismayed, he accepts it's his daughter and holds a funeral, hoping that he can obtain closure. Except it's all a lie: Genessier's daughter isn't missing at all. He's locked her away in his mansion while he tries to develop a procedure to graft someone else's face onto hers. And he'll stop at nothing to restore his daughter, no matter how many times he has to try his radical and experimental surgery."
"Christiane (Édith Scob), Genessier's daughter, was horrifically injured in a car accident with Genessier at the wheel, instilling in him an unshakable guilt. Christiane is imprisoned by her father, unable to live as she once did until her face can be repaired. She's forced to wear a blank white mask that covers all but her eyes. It's deeply unsettling, but it's a genius choice by Franju, as it forces us to imagine the potential horrors that sit underneath Christiane's mask. Pairing the mask with Scob's sensitive, quiet performance as she floats through her father's mansion, conveying so much anguish through her body"
Dr. Genessier becomes consumed by guilt after his daughter Christiane is badly disfigured in a car accident he caused. He presents radical medical ideas while secretly imprisons Christiane in his mansion, disguising her with a white mask that reveals only her eyes. Genessier orchestrates a fake funeral after a body with intact eyes is found, while he conducts repeated experimental face-grafting surgeries on other victims to restore his daughter's face. The situation blends medical ambition, moral decay, and horror, with Christiane's silent, anguished presence emphasized by her mask and Édith Scob's restrained performance.
Read at Inverse
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