Set in 1930s Paris, François Ozon’s theatre-world courtroom comedy is a fizzing if throwaway delight

Paris, 1935. Penniless aspiring actor Madeleine Verdier (Nadia Tereszkiewicz, with a note-perfect performance made up almost entirely of pouts, shrugs and eye-rolls) has just pleaded guilty to the murder of a powerful theatre producer. But at the sensational trial, in which Madeleine is defended by her roommate, newly graduated law student Pauline Mauléon (Rebecca Marder), Madeleine is unexpectedly acquitted. However, this is only the beginning of the story in the latest from François Ozon, which touches on gender politics and the fickle focus of celebrity, all the while maintaining a tone of adorably frothy insouciance.

This is Ozon at his most playful and arch – there’s common ground with his film 8 Femmes and Potiche – but also his most flippant and disposable. The Crime Is Mine is a fizzing, frivolous confection and charming diversion – it’s worth watching for the exquisitely chic costumes alone. It’s undeniably amusing, but there’s little in the way of genuine wit in this knowingly ironic spin on the French farce. This matters less than it should, since the entire cast is clearly having an absolute blast with this peppy comedy crime romp – none more so than Isabelle Huppert, who sweeps imperiously into the film’s third act in a cloud of frizzy ginger curls and gloriously self-important absurdity. To reveal more about her character would be to defuse the picture’s mischievous (and, it’s fair to say somewhat contrived) twist, but Huppert is sublimely silly, deliciously funny and single-handedly worth the price of admission.

In UK and Irish cinemas