Barracuda (1997): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1997, Barracuda is a thriller and drama film directed by Philippe Haïm, running about 94 minutes.

What it’s about. This French-German-Belgian thriller, reminiscent of Misery (1990) and The Collector (1965), begins after Fred Astaire-fan Clement (Jean Rochefort) invites comic-book artist Luc (Guillaume Canet) to Sunday dinner with Clement and his wife Violette. Luc's girlfriend Margot announces her pregnancy, prompting Luc to forget about the invitation, but Clement insists that Luc join him. After Luc arrives and sees that Violette is only a life-size plastic doll, he decides to leave but gets clobbered on the head. Awakening, he finds he's been handcuffed to the bathroom sink and gagged. Cruelties ensue, with crazed Clement getting visionary advice from both Astaire and Violette. Award-winning composer-arranger-orchestrator Philippe Haim made his feature directorial debut with this drama, and music is very much a part of the film from Haim's score and music-box melodies to tap dancing, honky-tonk piano, and a full musical comedy production number.

Who’s in it. Barracuda stars Guillaume Canet as Luc, Jean Rochefort as Monsieur Clément, Claire Keim as Margot and Michel Scourneau as Hallucination Clément, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.7/10, Barracuda has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Barracuda page.

If you liked it. Fans of Barracuda tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, Pulp Fiction, Parasite and Fight Club.