The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Without Apparent Motive
Crime · Mystery · Thriller · 1971
A series of murders is committed in Nice on the French riviera. The commissaire Carella is in charge and tries to find a missing link between all these murders.
Movie details
Without Apparent Motive
“One of them is the next victim. One is the killer. We challenge you to guess who.”
1971 Crime · Mystery · Thriller 1h 40m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.9 / 10
Community rating
A series of murders is committed in Nice on the French riviera. The commissaire Carella is in charge and tries to find a missing link between all these murders.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Without Apparent Motive?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Night Watch
Mystery · 1973
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
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The Seven-Ups
Thriller · 1973
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I... for Icarus
Thriller · 1979
Following the assassination of President Marc Jarry, a member of the investigation committee refuses to sign off on the committee's final findings.
The Blue Gardenia
Crime · 1953
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.
The Burned Barns
Thriller · 1973
The body of a young woman is discovered near a farm. The judge, Larcher is in charge and thinks that the farmers have something to do with the murder.
The Unknown Girl
Thriller · 2016
Jenny, a young doctor who feels guilty after a young woman she refused to see winds up dead a few days later, decides to find out who the girl was, after the police can't identify the young woman.
Three Days and a Life
Thriller · 2019
Christmas 1999, in a peaceful little village in the Ardennes. The life of a young boy named Antoine will soon be devastated by three tragic events : the death of a dog, the vanishing of a child, and a big ravaging storm.
The Kingdom
Crime · 2024
Lesia, a teenager, is taken by a man to a villa where her fugitive father and his men are hiding. A war erupts, leading to death and a chase where father and daughter bond.
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken
Drama · 2015
The true story of the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, the grandson of the founder of the Heineken brewery, and his driver. They were released after a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders was paid.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Philippe Labro
Written by
Jacques Lanzmann · Philippe Labro · Vincenzo Labella
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Stéphane Carella
Dominique Sanda
Sandra Forest
Sacha Distel
Julien Sabirnou
Carla Gravina
Jocelyne Rocca
Paul Crauchet
Francis Palombo
Laura Antonelli
Juliette Vaudreuil
Michel Bardinet
Tony Forest
Court is in session
Put Without Apparent Motive on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.