How to Be a Good Wife

How to Be a Good Wife

108 mins | Comedy | March 11, 2020

Paulette Van Der Beck and her husband have been running the housekeeping school of Bitche in Alsace for many years. Their mission is to train teenage girls to become the perfect housewives at a time when women were expected to be subservient to their husband. After the sudden death of her husband, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of bankruptcy and has to take her responsibilities. But while preparations are underway for the best housekeeping competition TV show, she and her lively students start questioning their beliefs as the nation-wide protests of May 1968 transform society around them. Reunited with her first love, André, and with the help of her eccentric stepsister Gilberte and strict nun Marie-Therese, Paulette joins forces with the schoolgirls to overcome their suppressed status and become liberated women.

How to Be a Good Wife

108 mins | Comedy | March 11, 2020

How to Be a Good Wife
Paulette Van Der Beck and her husband have been running the housekeeping school of Bitche in Alsace for many years. Their mission is to train teenage girls to become the perfect housewives at a time when women were expected to be subservient to their husband. After the sudden death of her husband, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of bankruptcy and has to take her responsibilities. But while preparations are underway for the best housekeeping competition TV show, she and her lively students start questioning their beliefs as the nation-wide protests of May 1968 transform society around them. Reunited with her first love, André, and with the help of her eccentric stepsister Gilberte and strict nun Marie-Therese, Paulette joins forces with the schoolgirls to overcome their suppressed status and become liberated women.
IMDb rating 5.8
Producers France 3 Cinéma, Les Films du Kiosque, Memento Films Production, Orange Studio, Umedia, Imagine Films
Original title La Bonne Épouse
Directors Juliette Maillard, Martin Provost
Writers Séverine Werba, Martin Provost

Cast

Juliette Binoche

as Paulette Van Der Beck

Yolande Moreau

as Gilberte Van der Beck

Noémie Lvovsky

as Marie-Therese

Édouard Baer

as André Grunvald

François Berléand

as Robert Van der Beck

Marie Zabukovec

as Annie Fuchs

Anamaria Vartolomei

as Albane Des-deux-Ponts

Lily Taïeb

as Yvette Ziegler

Pauline Briand

as Corinne Schwartz

Armelle

as Christiane Rougemont

Marine Berlanger

as Residential school student

Clémence Blondeau

as Residential school student

Marie Cornillon

as Marie-Jo Lorentz

Lauren Deguitre

as Residential school student

Clémentine Delange

as Residential school student

Juliet Doucet

as Residential school student

Suzanne-Marie Gabriell

as Residential school student

Élise Girard

as Residential school student

Marie-Anne Guilbert

as Residential school student

Sasha Herschritt

as Residential school student

Margaux Houssiaux

as Residential school student

Blandine Laignel

as Residential school student

Andréa Mands

as Residential school student

Salomé Soares

as Residential school student

Julien Sibre

as The “bonjour madame” assistant

Stéphane Bissot

as Raymonde

Dominique Pozzetto

as The priest

Philippe Morand

as Mr. Schmitt

Cécile Dominjon

as Birgit, the waitress at Mado

Stéphane Hausauer

as Mr. Frantz, the waiter at Mado

François Hauteserre

as The motorist in the traffic jam

Cécile Ribault-Caillol

as Ménie Grégoire (voice)

Alex Dey

as Gaëtan

Lucas Bleger

as The bistro customer

Perrine Avisse

as The makeup artist