Deadly Circuit (1983)
Directed by Claude Miller
Starring Michel Serrault and Isabelle Adjani

Synopsis: A private detective becomes obsessed with a serial killer who he thinks might be his daughter.

Rating: ***1/2

Thoughts: A very French take on the neo-noir. A private detective known as “The Eye” (Serrault) is hired to locate a rich couple’s son and find out more information about the woman he has been seeing.  He finds the man and watches the woman, Catherine (Adjani) murder him. The detective doesn’t turn her in, but continues to follow her, where he finds that she regularly seduces rich men and then murders them. He becomes convinced she is his long-lost daughter and begins secretly helping her dispose of the bodies. 

This is a weird little film that mostly follows the detective as he follows the girl. Serrault is great as the detective. He’s a guy who was once great at his job but has lost his way. As he’s gotten older, he’s feeling the weight of having never known his daughter (what exactly happened to her is only revealed late in the film). Adjani is lovely as well, but Catherine is someone we mostly just see through his eyes. The plot is strange and quirky and kind of wonderful.