So Robert Bresson is one of those directors who I just kinda don’t get. Intellectually, I can read about how he wanted his actors to be emotionless and act mechanically, and think it’s a neat idea; intellectually, I can see that his movies about terrible people acting terribly and then achieving a kind of grace tie into his religious worldview. But emotionally, it just leaves me cold.

But… this movie is something of an exception to that. So either it’s his objectively best movie or else I’m starting to vibe with him a bit more.

The setup in this one is that a teenager begs his dad for an advance on his allowance to pay back some money he owes. The dad refuses, so the kid goes to a friend of his, who’s all “oh man, I’ve got some counterfeit money here, we just need to pass this off and get some change, and we’re set.” So they go to a photography store and buy a frame with a big bill. The clerk is suspicious, but can’t prove that the bill is fake, so gives them the frame and their change.

When the owner is going through the money later, he realizes instantly that it’s a fake bill, and is upset that the clerk took it. But rather than go to the cops, he uses it to pay a delivery guy. The delivery guy then uses it to pay at a restaurant; the restaurant accuses him of counterfeiting and keeps his fake bill. He’s outraged, and gets into a fight.

From here — and really, even before here — the movie is about what people do when put into a situation that challenges their morality. When the delivery guy goes back to the photography store, will they admit that they passed on a fake bill? How is this delivery guy going to deal with being in the criminal justice system (as no matter what happens with this bill, he did start an altercation at that cafe)? What about that shit-ass kid who started all this mess?

It’s Bresson, so you should not expect it to go well. This is the dude who made a movie about torturing a donkey, after all. But watching it spiral out is absorbing, and Bresson’s characteristic coldness works well here. I walk away not only liking this movie, but thinking that there’s a reasonable chance this isn’t his objectively best movie, and that maybe I was unfair to his other movies.