Repulsion
Movie, 1965, Named by critics, Set in First in the trilogy
Repulsion is #5 of 48 in release order and #4 of 48 in chronological order in the Spiritual Trilogies.
The story
Beautiful young manicurist Carole suffers from androphobia (the pathological fear of interaction with men). When her sister and roommate, Helen, leaves their London flat to go on an Italian holiday with her married boyfriend, Carole withdraws into her apartment. She begins to experience frightful hallucinations, her fear gradually mutating into madness.
Repulsion recap
Carol Ledoux, a young Belgian manicurist in London, shares a flat with her older sister Helen. Carol is withdrawn and repelled by men: she flinches from a polite suitor, Colin, and is disgusted by Helen's married boyfriend Michael, his razor in the bathroom and the sounds of their lovemaking through the wall. When Helen and Michael leave for a holiday in Italy, Carol is alone in the flat and starts to come apart. She stops going to work, leaves a skinned rabbit to rot on the counter, sees cracks split open the walls, and imagines a man breaking in to rape her at night. Hands reach out of the corridor walls. Colin forces open the door to tell her he loves her, and she kills him with a candlestick and leaves him in the bath. This is the first of Roman Polanski's Apartment Trilogy, three films where a home becomes the setting for a character's mental collapse.
Repulsion ending explained
Carol kills a second man, and Helen comes home to find her catatonic under a bed. The landlord lets himself in to collect the rent, sees the wrecked flat, and tries to force himself on Carol; she cuts him to death with Michael's razor. Helen and Michael return to the barricaded flat, find Colin's body in the bathtub, and discover Carol lying under the bed, unresponsive. Neighbours gather as Michael carries her out. The camera settles on a family photograph in which young Carol stares at an older man, hinting at abuse the film never states.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Repulsion
Repulsion is streaming on fuboTV, Brew, Fawesome, Cineverse, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 96%
Where it fits
- Release order: after A Fistful of Dollars, before For a Few Dollars More.
- Chronological order: after The World's End, before Rosemary's Baby.
Cast
- Catherine Deneuve as Carol Ledoux
- Ian Hendry as Michael
- John Fraser as Colin
- Yvonne Furneaux as Hélène Ledoux
- Patrick Wymark as le propriétaire
- Renée Houston as Mme Balch
- Valerie Taylor as Mme Denise
- James Villiers as John
- Helen Fraser as Brigitte
- Monica Merlin as Mme Rendesham
- Hugh Futcher as Reggie
- Imogen Graham as Manicurist
Directed by Roman Polanski.