Every great con artist movie performs a kind of card trick in which the audience identifies with the suave anti-heroes as they relieve their naive victims of their assets only to discover at the end that they have been gulled into a version of reality that failed to anticipate the final double-cross. The movie is successful directly in proportion to its success in pulling the wool over your eyes.

The Swindle directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Isabelle Huppert (as Betty) and Michel Serrault (as Victor) delivers on that score. Betty and Victor specialize in petty cons that leave their victims unaware that they’ve been had. Apparently the key is to steal enough to make it worth your while, but no so much that it’s noticed. They take on a bigger prey, a mob money mule, and worry that they’ve gotten out of their depth. The crosses pile up. Double, Triple, I lost count at Quadruple, but there were more.

Chabrol clearly loves to toy with his audience and you are never quite sure of the relationship between Huppert and Serrault. Are they father-daughter, lovers, or merely colleagues? For me though, the greatest pleasure was watching Michel Serrault ply his trade as a man who aspires to be debonair, but is continually taken to be part of the hotel staff. It’s light comedy that, like a good card trick, is much harder to pull off than it looks. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more opportunities to see Serrault.

This is Chabrol’s 50th film and he’s quite the mechanic. This is worth your time.

Streaming now on Kanopy.