You are here:

The Great Alibi

Name: The Great Alibi
Director: Pascal Bonitzer
Released: 2008
Duration: 93 min

Representation Score

4.2/10

Fair

2008

Director

Pascal Bonitzer

Runtime

93 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The film operates as a cerebral psychological mystery that prioritizes class dynamics and individual culpability over social breadth. While it avoids formulaic clichés by placing a woman in a position of chaotic ability to act, the world remains largely insular. The setting and character archetypes suggest a traditionalist, Eurocentric social hierarchy, limiting the film's reach in terms of cultural diversity.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Great Alibi have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not include any explicit LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships. The focus is on infidelity and complex interpersonal relationships within a domestic setting.

How does The Great Alibi portray gender?

Fair

Claire, the female protagonist, plays a significant role in driving the story despite being placed in a chaotic situation. She challenges the traditional passive role of women by holding the smoking gun.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Great Alibi?

Limited

The setting involves a senator in a village near Paris, suggesting a homogeneous, upper-class Eurocentric demographic. The narrative lacks specific details indicating a diverse cast of characters.

How does The Great Alibi represent religion and culture?

Fair

The film examines the social fabric of the upper-middle class through characters like a psychoanalyst and a senator. It functions as a study of psychological breakdown within a stable structure.

Does The Great Alibi include disability representation?

Minimal

The synopsis does not mention any characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Present on Screen

The film disrupts the traditional passive role of women by centering a woman in a position of intense, albeit chaotic, ability to act.
Pascal Bonitzer provides a sophisticated, cerebral approach to genre filmmaking that explores psychological complexity.

Limited or Absent

The narrative leans toward a homogenous, Eurocentric demographic typical of upper-class French settings.
There is a lack of visible representation for LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight characters.
The story lacks evidence of characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Like every weekend senator Henri Pagès and his wife entertain guests at their beautiful mansion in a peaceful village near Paris. But this time around, things go awry: Pierre Collier, a psychoanalyst and consummate womanizer, is brutally murdered. Claire, his wife, dazed and confused by his corpse, with a smoking gun still in her hand, seems to be the ideal culprit...

How are these scores produced? →