In a provincial French town, a sophisticated schoolmistress (Stephane Audran) avoids attachments but strikes up a congenial friendship with the charmingly passionate local butcher (Jean Yanne), a veteran of Indochina. As a serial killer spreads terror throughout the countryside, the effort of these two people to come back from their emotional islands to some kind of mutual understanding and reality builds from oblique tenderness and humor to tragedy.

Many regard LE BOUCHER not only as Chabrol's masterpiece but as one of the greatest films of all time. LE BOUCHER is a film to be savored and apreciated over numerous viewings; when the nail-biting tension no longer surprises, its insights and artistic glories emerge even more clearly.