Shock Treatment (Traitement du choc) is a 1973 film from France directed by Alain Jessua.
Helene (Annie Girardot) is a 38-year-old businesswoman who, despite being successful, is feeling depressed after getting dumped by a boyfriend. On the advice of her friend Jerome, Helene checks into a fancy health spa and rejuvenation clinic run by Dr. Devliers (Alain Delon). The view of the sea is beautiful, all the people there look happy and healthy, and after her first injection of the clinic's special serum, Helene is feeling terrific.
But she is also observing some odd things. The clients at the institute, most of whom are repeat customers, are strangely cliquish, talking about the "community" and the "rules" they have to go by. It turns out that Jerome has been ruined in business and can no longer afford the clinic; his last night there, he tells Helene about the "outrages" that take place there. The next morning he's found at the bottom of the cliff, dead by suicide—or was it? And then there's Joao, one of the young Portuguese men who are the servants at the clinic. Helene, who speaks Portuguese, takes a liking to Joao. One night, Joao appears at the door to her room, only to crumple to the floor in a faint. He is never seen again...
Does not feature the trope Electroconvulsive Therapy Is Torture; bad things are happening at the institute but that isn't one of them. Not to be confused with 1981 American comedy film, Shock Treatment.
Tropes:
- Bathtub Scene: In theory, Annie Girardot naked in a hot tub should be sexy. But the fact that everything is shiny chrome and steel gives the scene an oddly clinical feel and is a bit of Foreshadowing.
- Buzzing the Deck: Dr. Devilers has his own plane and after he and Helene start sleeping together, he takes her for a spin. He flies very low over the grounds of the institute, and as his clients scatter he talks about how much he dislikes them and how he hates catering to rich people.
- Dirty Cop: The police inspector, who investigates Jerome's "suicide" and later arrests Helene. He reveals that he's a client of the clinic, that he knows exactly what is going on with the Portuguese staff, and that no one will ever believe Helene.
- Downer Ending: Helene kills Dr. Devilers, whereupon the police inspector arrests her for murder. The inspector, who is a client of the institute and knows exactly what is going on and is helping to cover it up, tells Helene that no one will believe her and that her only choice is to plead insanity. The film ends with Helene being taken away while more young Portuguese men are delivered to the clinic, now run by Dr. Barnard.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: A particularly dark take. The young Portuguese men that are employed as stewards and busboys at the clinic are illegal immigrants in France without a work permit—but they aren't just being exploited economically. The doctors at the clinic are drugging them and taking their blood for use in the rejuvenation serum. Eventually, the clinic murders the young men, purées their organs for use in the serum, and dumps what's left of their carcasses out at sea.
- Gay Best Friend: Jerome. Helene says it's too bad he's gay, else she would marry him. Jerome goes to institute because he's terrified of becoming an "old hag."
- Human Resources: Dr. Devilers tells Helene that the secret ingredient of his injections is the blood of fetal sheep, but that's a lie. In fact he is keeping his patients young by injecting them with the liquefied organs of his Portuguese workers, who are murdered.
- Interrupted Intimacy: When a freaked-out Helene barges into Dr. Devilers' office, she clearly interrupts him about to have sex with his blond girlfriend, who is wearing nothing except one of his shirts.
- Longevity Treatment: The rich folks at the clinic are healthier and happier, and they feel younger. Because they're being injecting with the liquefied organs of young Portuguese men.
- Male Frontal Nudity: From Alain Delon, of all people, and most of the other men in the cast, in the scene where the clients of the clinic go skinnydipping in the ocean and Dr. Devilers shucks his clothes to join them.
- Never Suicide: It's not definitively stated, but it's very very very strongly implied that Jerome didn't kill himself, but was murdered, because he knew too much.
- Pool Scene: More than one, as the spoiled clients at the clinic, who include several attractive women like Helene, lounge around the pool.
- Read the Fine Print: Helene starts feeling uneasy about the institute when she tries to leave after Jerome's suicide and Dr. Devilers doesn't let her. Dr. Devilers calmly states that, per the agreement she signed when she came to the clinic, the clinic has the right to hold her if they feel it's unsafe for her to leave.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: The random blonde who is just one of Dr. Devilers' lovers is wearing a backless dress when Helene first enters his office.
- Sexy Shirt Switch: Helene is wearing one of Dr. Devilers' shirts after sex, although this is subverted because it's a tense scene where she's searching his quarters for incriminating evidence.
- Sexy Silhouette: The doctor needs to study Helene's posture, which of course is a good reason for Helene to step behind a lit screen, showing the outline of her naked body as the doctor traces out how she stands.
- Shower Scene: Helene, naked in the shower after sex with Dr. Devliers.
- Skinnydipping: The clients at the institute, male and female, all go to the sauna on the beach and nobody's too concerned about wearing clothing. Because they're all high after getting injections of Dr. Devliers' rejuvenation serum, they run out of the sauna and into the ocean, where they all splash around in the nude. Dr. Devilers, who just happens to be strolling by, strips off all his clothes and joins them.
- Standard Female Grab Area: One of the regular clients of the clinic grabs Helene like this while forcing her back into Dr. Devilers' cottage. At the climax, Dr. Devilers is doing the upper-arm grab to drag Helene around the laboratory as he tells her the truth about how they're turning Portuguese youths into smoothies.
- Straw Vegetarian: The institute and its vegan cafe menu. Helene wonders what the hell she's eating and is told it's "seaweed steak." She pronounces it disgusting, and she and some of the other clients go into town for some real food.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Or at least, an Institute With a Dark Secret. All the regular clients at the clinic know exactly what is going on. They take a dislike to Helene after she starts asking inconvenient questions, and at the climax they band together to stop her from leaving. And at least two people in the town know this: the fisherman, who takes the corpses out to sea for disposal, and the police inspector, who is also a client and who arrests Helene and covers up the murders.
