La Bande des quatre (1988)
Directed by Jacques Rivette

Film Synopsis

Constance Dumas is a renowned drama teacher who, for many years, has only taken budding young actresses under her wing.  Four of her pupils, Claude, Joyce, Lucia and Anna live together in a house in the suburbs.  A fifth girl, Cécile, has recently left them to live with a mysterious young man that no one has ever seen.  One evening, Anna is accosted by a stranger who begins to question her about Cécile, hinting that she may have fallen under the spell of a louche individual.  The stranger has already acted out this scene with Joyce, and he repeats it one more time with Claude, who cannot help falling in love with him.  It turns out that the inquisitive stranger, Thomas, is a police officer who is on the trail of Cécile's boyfriend, Antoine Lucas.  A convicted criminal who has always protested his innocence, Antoine claims that he has several documents proving that some senior magistrates have been accepting bribes.  Thomas has been pursuing his elaborate charade simply so that he can gain access to the house in which he believes Antoine has hidden the key to the safe which holds the compromising documents.  As soon as Thomas manages to get his hands on the key, Lucia and her friends act to prevent him from leaving their house, having resolved to do everything they can to prove Antoine's innocence...