Let’s be real: the institution of marriage has been well-deconstructed in the digital age. In a time when getting married is expensive and having kids is even more costly, maintaining a long-term relationship feels harder than ever. The idea of being in a happy and healthy marriage built on stability and fidelity while also full of passion and romance is, to many, a bit of a pipe dream. Two Women investigates married life through the eyes of two married women who are neighbors in the same complex, looking at marriage dissatisfaction and female pleasure. Director Chloé Robichaud’s fourth feature film is a fun and sexy romp that discusses infidelity, marriage, and being a mother in our modern age.
What Is ‘Two Women’ About?

Two Women is based on the 1970 Canadian film Deux femmes en or directed and written by Claude Fournier. Set in Quebec, the 2025 French-language film follows two women named Violette (Laurence Laboeuf) and Florence (Karine Gonthier-Hyndman) who are neighbors in an apartment complex. Both women are married mothers with Violette having recently given birth and being on maternity leave. Struggling with their marriages, both women feel somewhat unsatisfied in their relationships. Violette is currently nursing and stuck at home while her husband takes frequent work trips, leaving her alone in the house. Meanwhile, Florence is dealing with depression and thinking of going off her meds as she suspects her husband might be cheating on her.
As the two women bond, they also begin exploring a newfound sexuality. Both Florence and Violette dabble in infidelity with delivery guys and maintenance men while their husbands are away. These playful liaisons do not take the place of a deeper emotional relationship — especially when deeper issues in the respective marriages begin to surface as the film progresses — but it is a full-throated embracing of female desire that stands out the most throughout the run of Two Women.
‘Two Women’ Takes a Silly Concept and Injects Life Into It

Image via Sundance

Two Women is undeniably charming. The concept of two married housewives having sexual escapades with plumbers, delivery boys, and the cable guy might seem like the setup for some ’80s porn video, but Chloé Robichaud’s approach not only makes it joyful but also extremely feminine. Although Two Women is focused on female pleasure and the female body, Robichaud never shies away from the complexities of marriage for the couple. Although much of the film centers around Violette and Florence, their husbands are also a part of their relationship, and their own struggles directly reflect the state of their wives. Even when one of them is having an affair, his conversations with his mistress center around his wife more often than not.

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Taking a well-rounded and non-judgemental look at infidelity and being willing to dive into the complexities of monogamy and long-term relationships is both refreshing and unique. Robichaud takes her time with the characters and thanks to Catherine Léger’s sharp script, there’s a delightful dose of absurdity that is mixed in with the soft and warm palette of the slice-of-life film. There is no scandal or hyperdrama that you might expect from a story like this even though it deals with serious topics. Instead, there’s an empathetic approach to every character that gives the film the depth it needs.
‘Two Women’ Offers a Quaint Look at Life

Image via Sundance

Set in the suburbs of a town in Quebec, the film almost feels storybook-ish in presentation. Violette and Florence are often swaddled in soft fabrics, warm light, and cozy surroundings. Robichaud finds ways to draw out the unordinary from the ordinary. In a sense, Violette and Florence’s world almost feels out of time. There’s a retro feel to the stay-at-home wife, even though the story takes place in the modern day. With their two apartments sharing a wall, Robichaud often plays the two women off of each other on the screen with Violette’s docile and soft nature a perfect compliment to Florence’s more bold and confident demeanor.
There are moments where the stripped-down simplicity of their life almost feels like it’s been plucked out of a Wes Anderson film. Coloring-wise, the film had a distinct pastel tinge to it; pair that with the random stand-out residents of their apartment building and it makes for the perfect quaint community life. Although it’s clear that a world outside of their apartment building exists, — several scenes take place there — within the confines of the complex everything feels a bit different, a bit special.
There’s Still More To Explore in ‘Two Women’

Image via Sundance

Coming in at a cool 100 minutes, what holds Two Women back is the fact that there still feels like there’s more potential. There are several unexplored storylines that merit more depth. This is especially seen in Juliette Gariépy’s Éli and Jessica, played by Yellowjackets’ Sophie Nélisse, who seem to play foil to Violette and Florence but are never fully realized enough to fill that position. Granted, the film is called Two Women and not Four Women, but their presence offers more insight into the dynamics of women from different stages of their lives that feel rich with possibility.
There’s also a bit of a lull through the film where the pacing feels uneven, especially as it heads toward its conclusion which ultimately feels slightly rushed and abrupt. But these flaws are not as apparent when you take into account the astounding performances by Karine Gonthier-Hyndman and Laurence Labeouf. Both actors hold their own in the film as they’re played off each other. Gonthier-Hyndman is playful and funny, embodying a kind of wildness that makes her magnetic on screen. Labeouf plays Violette with gentleness and empathy; when she finally indulges in infidelity, it’s hard not to cheer her on rather than chastise her. Ultimately, these two actors hold up as the strongest players in Two Women and while the film doesn’t dig as deep into them as I would have liked, there is still much to love in Robichaud’s remake.

Two Women

‘Two Women’ is a fun, slightly absurd, and sexy look at two housewives who discover the joys of infidelity.

Release Date

January 25, 2025

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

Chloé Robichaud

Writers

Catherine Léger

Laurence Leboeuf

Violette

Karine Gonthier-Hyndman

Florence

Pros & Cons

The film takes a non-judgmental approach to serious topics without devolving into melodrama.
Lead performances from Karine Gonthier-Hyndman and Laurence Labeouf are fantastic and the highlight of the film.

There’s more to dig into and several of the supporting characters feel completely unexplored.