The melodramatic story of a widow, Marie Paradis, as she becomes an elderly dependant. Taking charge is her daughter-in-law, the cruel and stingy Céleste. Marie answers to all the stereotypes of the traditional mother: she's generous, loving.
The story of a Machiavellian plan hatched by a money-grubbing stepmother to push aside the young lover of her stepdaughter whom she wants to marry a wealthy idiot. The woman devises the most abominable machinations to achieve her ends, going as far as to try and murder her own husband. This...