Hey what's up guys
Today I'll show you a romance-mystery film: "The Best Offer"
Spoiler ahead, watch out and take care
The movie begins with Virgil, a well-respected managing director of an exclusive auction house,
carefully cataloging the valuable objects in the basement of a manor
He identifies some vintage cabinets and chests,
before glimpsing a moldy piece of wood in a dark corner
He asks the family members if they'd be willing to gift it to him,
as under all the mold is a painting
Afterward, Virgil goes to the salon to get his hair dyed
Then, he picks out a suit and gloves from his own collection
The next day, he receives a call from a worried woman named Claire,
who mistakes him for his assistant
She nervously tells him that
her parents left behind an enormous collection of paintings and other rare pieces;
and she would like for Virgil to assess the collection
Virgil, still pretending to be his assistant, informs her that Virgil doesn't do initial appraisals
Claire insists that her father instructed her to trust Virgil;
and only Virgil when it comes to the collection
Intrigued, Virgil goes to Claire's address; but no one answers the door
Later that day, Virgil conducts an auction
One of the pieces sold is a portrait; and it was bought by an old gentleman with long gray hair
Virgil then meets with the same gentleman, who turns out to be an old friend named Billy
He helps Virgil acquire valuable paintings by posing as a buyer,
while Virgil auctions the paintings as being made by a different artist;
thereby lowering the price significantly
Billy then buys the pieces, and gives them to Virgil, with monetary compensation for him, of course
Because of this scam, Virgil has accumulated a very expensive collection of portraits
Billy also does paintings as a hobby; and although they are friends and partners,
Virgil doesn't mince words, when he says that Billy is not a true artist
That night, Virgil hides his newly-acquired portrait in his secret room, behind his glove collection
The room is filled from top to bottom with beautiful portraits of women
The next morning, Claire calls Virgil, and tries to explain why she stood him up
She says that she was in a car accident, and apologizes for not making it to their appointment
Virgil softens upon hearing that she was hurt; and he promptly makes plans to meet Claire once more
He then goes to Claire's ancestral mansion again; and he is greeted by the caretaker
However, Claire couldn't make it again, because she has a fever
But she instructed the caretaker to show Virgil around the house
The once-grand mansion has been rundown, since Claire's parents died in quick succession a year ago
But every room is filled with promising art pieces
Virgil asks to see the cellar; and the caretaker leads him to a dusty room downstairs
Like the rest of the house, it's filled with furniture too
Virgil notices a strange metal gear, lying on the floor
He takes the piece of metal to Robert, a trusted mechanical repairman
However, he couldn't tell Virgil much about the gear and its function
Virgil eventually starts cataloging the artifacts inside Claire's house
She promised she'll meet him there, but it's been hours, and there's no sign of her yet
Virgil remarks that the house has been changed since he last visited,
such as the key to the piano suddenly appearing, and a glass pane in a cabinet is broken
Virgil tells the caretaker that if Claire doesn't show up soon,
he will stop the inventory immediately
The caretaker gets Claire on the phone;
and Virgil furiously tells her that he no longer wants to do business with someone,
who can't be transparent with him
Suddenly, one of the workers heaving a ladder loses its grip on it;
and the ladder falls down the stairs, emitting a screeching sound
Virgil hears the same sound coming from Claire's end
This means that the woman is probably inside the house too,
and is hiding from Virgil in a nearby room
Still on the phone, Claire explains that her car was stolen that morning;
and she had to go to the police station to report it
Virgil walks around the house, trying to find where she is
Claire's voice begins to echo; and he demands that she show herself
She cuts their conversation short,
and tells him that she'll tell him everything, if he calls later that night
Afterward, Virgil visits Robert again, who has inspected the gear,
and noticed that the parts were melded together, using an 18th-century technique
This makes the gear, and whichever contraption it belongs to, very rare indeed
That night, Virgil dines with the caretaker, and bribes him with money to tell him more about Claire
The caretaker reveals that in the little more than a decade he served her family,
he has never seen Claire's face, not even once
Alone at his house, Virgil calls Claire
Contrary to what she promised him,
she tells him that she wishes for Virgil to stop all ongoing operations,
regarding her family's belongings
The next day, Virgil conducts another auction
He presents an 8 million dollar-worth portrait as a forgery;
and his friend Billy is in the audience again to bid on it
The auction ends at 90,000 dollars, which he sells to Billy
But an old woman protests, and says that she put in her bid first
The other people also back up the woman's claim
Virgil has no choice, but to honor her bid
Of course, the woman just thinks she bid on an excellent forgery,
not knowing that it was an authentic portrait costing so much more
Meanwhile, Robert excitedly tells Virgil that
he has found Jacques Vaucanson's signature on one of the gear pieces
Vaucanson was a famous maker of automatons in the 18th century;
and this means that there must be an automaton among Claire's possessions
Robert says that if Virgil can get the other pieces, he can possibly rebuild the automaton
Virgil's assistant informs him that Claire has called,
and wants him to visit the mansion again to meet with her
He accepts and goes to her house again
She speaks to him behind a wall, and tells him that she hasn't left her house since she was 13,
because she is agoraphobic
She tells him that she feels like they are kindred spirits,
because he's seen how he always wears gloves;
and she thinks that Virgil is afraid of touching other people,
the same way that going outside frightens her
While talking to her, Virgil sees another metal cog, and picks it up
He tells Claire that he'll continue his partnership with her
Virgil then later goes out to dinner with Robert, and hands him the newfound metal pieces
They celebrate the prospect of rebuilding a very expensive automaton
As the inventory of the furniture starts again,
Virgil begins to find more and more metal pieces, strewn around the house
He talks to Claire again, and sees that she has a hole on the wall to peep through
She comments that he dyes his hair; and she doesn't trust people who dye their hair
Virgil bristles at her insult, and leaves
Outside, the caretaker informs him that Claire wants to give him the keys;
so he can have easy access to the house
Virgil decides to get his hair back to its natural color
He then calls Claire, and makes up with her
She compliments his gray hair this time, as she's seen him giving an interview on TV
Afterward, Claire doesn't contact or respond to him again; and Virgil begins to be worried about her
He calls the caretaker, who however, tells him that he's been sick for days,
and now is unable to deliver food to Claire
Virgil then buys some groceries, and heads to Claire's house
She's been sick too, and didn't know who to call; and then she had a fall
Virgil tries to open the door to get her to the hospital; but she tells him to go away
Later on, Claire calls him, and tells him that she is feeling much better
She also reveals that she works as an author, and writes under a pseudonym
On the other hand, While Robert tinkers with the metal pieces that Virgil brings,
Virgil asks him for advice, on how to handle the growing closeness between him and Claire
Virgil pretends that it isn't him, but a friend, who is falling for a woman trapped in a room
After one afternoon of working on the inventory with Claire, Virgil tells her he's leaving;
but he hides behind a statue to finally see her
A pretty woman emerges from the room; and Virgil quietly leaves the mansion
Billy visits Virgil, and gives him the painting they lost to the old woman
He tells him that he bought the painting from her,
because he knows how upset Virgil was, when they weren't able to get it
On Claire's birthday, Virgil visits her with a bouquet of flowers
But she is enraged over the low valuation of the pieces
He assures her that the bids will go higher than that; but she feels insulted
Virgil is equally angry at her too, and throws the flowers away
That night, she calls him, while he's eating dinner alone
She is crying, and despondent at how afraid she is of going outside
He immediately comes over, and tries to persuade her to see a therapist regarding her agoraphobia
But Claire is much more comfortable speaking with him, than a therapist
He notices that she moved one of the paintings, a portrait of a dark-haired woman
She tells him that it was her mother
Once again, Virgil pretends to leave, but hides behind the statue to spy on Claire
She walks out of the room in a bathrobe, and talks to a director on the phone about Virgil
But Virgil drops his phone; and she gets scared that there is someone in the house with her
He runs away; and Claire calls his phone to ask him for help
He returns, and confesses that it was him spying on her
Claire gets angry at him, and orders him to leave
But as he's walking down the stairs, Claire walks up behind him
Virgil tells her that he is compelled by his emotions to see her, and that he will never hurt her
Thanks to that, She allows him to touch her face
Virgil later shares the developments with Robert,
as the young man works on the automaton, which is almost completed
He encourages Virgil to surprise Claire, to make her feel his affection
Therefore, Virgil splurges on some clothes and make-up for Claire; and she wears a dress for him
She is delighted by his presents
While putting on the make-up,
she comes to the realization that Virgil is trying to convince her to go out
She resents him for trying to fix her, and so locks herself in her room
Virgil makes up for his mistake, by preparing a lavish dinner for the two of them in Claire's house
He allows Robert to hide behind the statue, and see Claire for himself
A few days later, Robert's girlfriend speaks with Virgil,
and tells him that she's worried that Robert is in love with another woman, named Claire
Suspecting that Robert is trying to steal Claire,
he confronts Robert in anger, and takes back the automaton
Virgil then shows the professional pictures of Claire's art pieces to her
She then shows him her room, where he finds the remaining pieces needed for the automaton
He patches things up with Robert; and they agree to continue working on the automaton
One afternoon, Virgil arrives at her house; but Claire is missing
Together with Robert and the caretaker, they search for her, but to no avail
Virgil gets the idea to search for more secret rooms in the mansion
And down in the cellar, he finds Claire hiding
He gets Claire to a bathtub; so she can clean up
She shares that she was in Prague with her first boyfriend;
and they used to visit a local cafe there
Later, while walking, a car hit them; and he died
She never went out since then
Claire and Virgil spend a fantastic hormone night together
He is now irrevocably in deep love with her
One night, while walking home, some unknown men assault Virgil, and beat him up
Claire finds him, and overcomes her agoraphobia by accompanying him to the hospital,
which deeply touches Virgil and gains his trust
Later, after Virgil recovers, he and Claire are happy together
So besotted with her, he shows her his secret room, full of priceless portraits and his collections
Claire is amazed by all the art hanging on his walls
Right then, He asks her to live with him; and she accepts
Claire and Virgil go out to dinner with Robert and his girlfriend
Claire informs him that she does not want to sell her family's pieces anymore
Virgil does not care anymore, since he has Claire
He also announces that his auction in London next week, will be his last
After he concludes his last auction, Billy goes up to him, and says that he will miss Virgil
He has also sent him a painting of his, to remind Virgil that he has what it takes to be an artist
Soon after, When Virgil returns to his apartment, Claire is not there
He sees the painting that Billy sent, and is puzzled because it's the painting of Claire's mother
He picks it up, and is about to hang it in his secret room;
but to his horror, he finds out that all his expensive portraits are now gone
In the corner is the assembled automaton, playing a mischievous message from Robert taunting Virgil
The stress of the deception is too much for Virgil; and he gets hospitalized
While convalescing in an asylum, he reminisces about how it all came together for him
He had rushed to the villa to find Claire; but the gates were locked
He went to the pub across the street, and saw a woman also named Claire,
who is actually the true owner of the mansion
She mentioned that she'd been letting a young and nice engineer live in the house for two years now,
which is probably Robert
Virgil saw that Robert's shop was now empty too
And finally, the painting that Billy sent him,
had an inscription on the back, thanking Virgil for his best offer
It's revealed that Billy, Robert, and Claire had been working together for a long time,
to con Virgil out of his private collections
Claire was just a hormone trap, meant to seduce the love-thirsty Virgil, obtain his trust,
and get him to show her where his secret room was
Sometime later, Virgil eventually gets discharged from the asylum
He moves to Prague, which is said to be the place where Claire met her first boyfriend,
and still wonders if Claire's feelings had been true
The movie ends with Virgil going to the cafe Claire told him about,
and waiting for her to appear, dining alone like always
This's Daniel CC movie channel Stay safe and enjoy your day