Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you a drama film from 2018, titled Lady
J. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care. In France in 1789, Madame de La Pommeraye is
a young widow that doesn't believe in love and thinks married life is not for her. She only
believes in friendship, and friendships go sour when you mix them with the pleasures of the flesh.
This isn't enough to stop Marquis des Arcis, who wishes to court Pommeraye and is staying in her
estate until she accepts to be his. Arcis is a well-known womanizer and Pommeraye knows this,
which is why she doesn't believe him when he says she's his actual true love instead of just another
passing fling like other lovers from the past. Pommeraye is also visited often by her best friend
Lucienne, who brings her all the gossip from the city. Lucienne is worried about Pommeraye because
she thinks Arcis is slowly changing into a better man, and Lucienne thinks a man like him will
adopt any costume to get what he wants. Pommeraye tells her not to worry, promising she isn't naive.
However, the more days she spends with him, the more Pommeraye finds herself enjoying
Arcis' company and his philosophical talks. One afternoon, she finally gives in and accepts his
advances, thus the two of them become a happy couple living on Pommeraye's estate. When
Lucienne visits again, she is nervous about this turn of events, but stays respectful for the sake
of her friend's happiness. Pommeraye still wants to know what people are saying about them though,
so Lucienne explains people are placing bets on how long it will take them to break up.
In other news, Lucienne also tells her about Madame de Joncquières, who has been tricked by
a duke into a fake marriage and now she's broke; both she and her illegitimate teenage daughter had
to join a bawdy house to survive. Two years pass of Pommeraye and Arcis living happily together,
although they haven't gotten married yet even if Pommeraye brings the subject up every now and
then. One day, Arcis tells Pommeraye that he needs to leave for Paris to take care
of some very important business, and Pommeraye doesn't mind because it's only for a few days.
However when Arcis comes back, he tells her about plans to do some big constructions in the city,
which will take a big chunk of his time. Since then, Arcis begins neglecting Pommeraye,
spending most of his days in Paris, and whenever he comes back, ignoring her in favor of keeping
his attention on blueprints and chats with an architect. The next time Lucienne visits and hears
about Arcis' projects, she once again worries about Pommeraye being stuck with a libertine
that doesn't appreciate her. Pommeraye swears everything is fine, but when Lucienne apologizes
for doubting her relationship, Pommeraye feels guilty for lying and confesses how Arcis has been
neglecting her. Lucienne isn't surprised to hear this because passions always die after a while,
but she gives her friend an important piece of advice: if she wants to know the truth,
she needs to talk to Arcis. Later, Pommeraye approaches Arcis and tells him that she feels
there isn't love or passion between them anymore, expecting Arcis to deny it and tell her they're
just going through a rough patch. However her plan backfires: Arcis confesses he agrees and he's been
feeling like that for a while, he just had been scared to bring the subject up. In his opinion,
the best course of action would be to go back to being just friends, and Pommeraye agrees with
fake determination. But afterward, she cries her heart out while Lucienne comforts her.
As days pass, loneliness makes Pommeraye's heart grow bitter, and she decides to get revenge on
Arcis with a very cunning plan. Remembering the story Lucienne had told her, Pommeraye sends her
servants to pick up Madame de Joncquière and her daughter Mademoiselle de Joncquières, whose beauty
is striking and that makes her perfect for the plan. Pommeraye promises to reward them handsomely
if they help her get revenge on Arcis, and they agree. The first step is to get the women out
of the bawdy house, meaning Pommeraye rents them an apartment to live in. She also gets them fancy
clothes to pretend they're still nobles and gives them a few months to adapt before putting the plan
into action. When enough time passes, Pommeraye goes out for a walk with Arcis in the park,
where the Joncquières women are also walking by while dressed in black like devout Catholics.
Pommeraye pretends to be surprised they're there and invites them to walk with them,
chatting with the mother while the daughter silently walks next to Arcis, who can't get
his eyes off her. The Joncquières soon need to leave for mass, and as soon as they're gone,
Arcis asks Pommeraye about them, proving he's bitten the bait. Pommeraye explains the problems
they got into after a duke tricked them, but omits the detail about their courtesan work.
Arcis can't believe someone as beautiful as the daughter couldn't find a good husband,
so Pommeraye tells him they believe honorable modesty is better than marrying for money.
This leaves Arcis with a want for the forbidden, and for the next few days, he's obsessed with
finding the Joncquières ladies again, going as far as stopping random women in the park and
finally ignoring his projects. Desperate, he ends up going to beg Pommeraye for help, asking her to
invite the Joncquières for dinner, but Pommeraye pretends she's tried and she's been turned down.
Not willing to give up, Arcis confesses that during the walk in the park, he and the
Joncquières daughter share a few looks, making a connection. Pommeraye pretends not to believe him
and reminds him devoted Catholics like them will never look at him twice, making Arcis want what
he cannot have even more. Later, when Pommeraye shares her plan with Lucienne, she is proud to
make fun of Arcis because he comes every day to ask if she's heard anything from the Joncquières.
However, Lucienne thinks she's going too far over a heartbreak. Meanwhile, Arcis invites
his old lovers to spend his time with them as a distraction, yet he can't bring himself to be
with them because his mind can only think of Mademoiselle de Joncquières. Weeks pass with
Arcis staying inside in a depressed state, and as soon as Pommeraye comes to visit him, he begs for
at least a portrait of Mademoiselle de Joncquières so he can have more than a mere haunting memory.
Pommeraye pretends to finally feel pity for him and arranges a dinner with both Joncquières ladies
and Arcis, who shows up with humble manners. However, Pommeraye puts him on the spot by
saying she's been discussing philosophy with the Joncquières and they'd like his opinion as well.
Arcis actually doesn't know that much about philosophy, he's only learned a few quotes
to impress women, but he manages to put together some weird ideas about passion that Mademoiselle
de Joncquières pretends to be impressed by. After dinner, Pommeraye takes the mother into another
room to lend her some books, leaving Arcis and Mademoiselle de Joncquières alone on purpose.
Arcis tries some more cheap philosophy on her, and Mademoiselle de Joncquières accepts
it with only a word or two. After such a meeting, Arcis is even more determined to
have Mademoiselle de Joncquières, so he hires a bunch of men to find her. These men search
the entire town for the Joncquières ladies and when one of them finds them in church,
Arcis hires an artist to sketch the daughter while she's praying. He also waits outside the
church until mass is done to follow the ladies to their house and learn their address. Then,
he begins appearing in the area often, pretending to bump into them in the street by accident,
but the ladies ignore him every time. Eventually, Arcis decides to pay off the priest so he'll give
Mademoiselle de Joncquières a letter from him under the excuse that she needs an honest man to
protect her from the devil's temptations. When the ladies get the letter, they take it to Pommeraye,
who gets upset when she reads those heartfelt love declarations and throws the letter away.
At least the plan is going well, and she orders the ladies to keep going to church,
telling the priest the mother burned the letter without reading it. When hearing about this,
Arcis gets even more desperate and asks Pommeraye for help again, but she says no, reminding her
that he can't have Mademoiselle de Joncquières just to fan the flames. Arcis decides to pay
the ladies a visit in order to apologize for the inappropriate letter and give them two gifts: an
envelope with money and a diamond necklace. Madame de Joncquières wants to accept the necklace since
it could save her and her daughter's financial situation. But when she shows it to Pommeraye,
she orders her to turn it down because they can still get more out of this. She also makes Madame
de Joncquières write a letter that Pommeraye later gives Arcis in the ladies' names, telling him
they had been very offended by his gesture and pretending to be mad at him for stalking them.
Arcis begs for forgiveness on his knees, but Pommeraye refuses to help him again,
thus Arcis decides to try with a bigger gift. The next time he visits the Joncquières,
he brings even more money, the promise of two houses, and an entire set of diamonds.
Madame de Joncquières is in tears when she brings all this to Pommeraye, begging to be allowed to
accept such amazing gifts, but Pommeraye just makes her write another rejection letter.
She swears there's a bigger reward to catch and they need to be patient, although Madame
de Joncquières can't understand how the offerings can get any better. After giving Arcis the letter,
which breaks his heart, Pommeraye meets with Lucienne, who thinks Pommeraye's starting to push
Arcis into madness. However, Pommeraye thinks she isn't quite done yet. Three weeks later,
a desperate Arcis approaches Pommeraye to tell her he's willing to marry Mademoiselle
de Joncquières if that's what it takes and he needs Pommeraye to help him with the negotiations.
Pommeraye pretends to show concern for him since he's never shown interest in marriage, but Arcis
is determined. The plan is succesful, and Arcis and Mademoiselle de Joncquières get engaged. The
mother is incredibly happy, thinking Pommeraye was right, waiting did give them the biggest reward.
The daughter, however, isn't comfortable with the idea of marrying a tricked man that doesn't
know her full past. She can't get out of this plan without getting in trouble though, and the
wedding goes without a hitch. After the ceremony, the mother gives Mademoiselle de Joncquières a
little bottle of blood to put on the sheets so Arcis believes this to be his wife's first time.
Such a simple gesture makes the daughter cry, thinking this may be a punishment from god
for having pretended they were his followers and entering church after having worked as courtesans.
However, during their wedding night, Arcis notices how tense Mademoiselle de Joncquières is.
Thinking she is afraid of having her first time, he promises to wait patiently until she's ready
for him. Sometime later, Pommeraye invites Arcis and the Joncquières to go for a ride, but instead
of taking the carriage through the park as promised, they go to the local bawdy house.
There, Pommeraye reveals to Arcis the truth: his wife and mother-in-law had worked as courtesans
in this place. The mother has a breakdown, but Mademoiselle de Joncquières is tired of lying
and tells Arcis that it's all true. Pommeraye confesses as well, laughing hard while explaining
it had all been a trick, causing Arcis to run away. Mademoiselle de Joncquières tries to go
after him, but he pushes her away, asking her not to speak or touch him again if she doesn't
want consequences. Meanwhile, the mother asks Pommeraye why she's betrayed them, threatening
her with a broken bottle when Pommeraye says not to worry because she'll pay them as promised.
She doesn't understand that she's ruined two ladies' reputations,
and now they'll never be able to return to noble life again. When night falls, Arcis walks the city
streets while having to endure other lords' and ladies' mockery over Pommeraye's trick.
When he returns home, he finds lots of people at the door. It turns out they found his wife in the
river, where she jumped to end things, thus they rescued her and brought her over. Arcis gives them
some money as a reward to get rid of them then looks at Mademoiselle de Joncquières, deciding to
leave her on the entrance floor and go on with his life. She's still the lord's wife though, and the
servants bring her inside. When some hours later, Mademoiselle de Joncquières finally wakes up,
she tries to run away, but the servants stop her and take her to see Arcis, who has some things
to say. His honor doesn't allow him to ignore his family, even if they've brought him shame,
which means he'll allow them to keep his name and give them a house away from this mansion.
He takes back all the bad things he said about Mademoiselle de Joncquières because he's had time
to calm down and now he understands she's just a pawn in an evil woman's trick, so he wants her to
have freedom. However, Mademoiselle de Joncquières asks for at least the darkest corner in the house
that a wife could have in order to redeem herself and show him how much she hated lying to him.
Arcis can tell how honest she's being and forgives her for everything before accepting to keep her as
his wife. Some days later, Lucienne is in the city when he sees Arcis and Mademoiselle de Joncquières
going away on a trip. Arcis explains to her that they're leaving to the countryside until all the
gossip dies down, and in return, Lucienne swears she hadn't been involved in Pommeraye's tricks.
Arcis believes her because he knows what his ex is like and asks Lucienne to tell Pommeraye that
is grateful for those tricks because they've introduced him to his beloved wife. Afterward,
Lucienne visits Pommeraye and tells her about the latest stories of the city,
including having bumped into Arcis. However, she doesn't pass on the message and lies, saying she
saw him alone. Pommeraye believes her and says that even if Arcis hadn't been alone, she wouldn't
have cared because she's at peace, but the pain on her features shows how she's lying as well.