Richard Lafargue is an eminent plastic surgeon haunted by dirty secrets. He has an operating theatre in the basement of his chateau and keeps his partner Eve imprisoned in her bedroom, a room he has equipped with an intercom and 300-watt speakers through which he bellows orders. Eve is only allowed out to be paraded at cocktail parties and on the last Sunday of each month, when the couple visit a young woman in a mental asylum. Following these outings, Lafargue humiliates Eve by forcing her to perform lewd sexual acts with strangers while he watches through a one-way mirror.

In alternating chapters, Jonquet introduces seemingly unrelated characters - a criminal on the run after murdering a policeman, and an abducted young man who finds himself chained naked in a dark chamber, forced to endure all manner of physical torture at the hands of a mysterious stranger, whom he calls Mygale, after a type of tropical spider. All of these characters are caught in a deceitful web, waiting to meet their fate.

Film by Almodovar, based on Jonquet's novel, starring Antonio Banderas to be released widely in the UK on 26 August

Pedro Almodovar hat diesen verstörenden Film mit Antonio Banderas in der Hauptrolle verfilmt. Der Film startet voraussichtlich Ende 2011 in den Kinos.Der renommierte plastische Chirurg Richard Lafargue hat ein Geheimnis. In einem Schlafzimmer seines Chateaus hält er eine Gefangene. Film by Almodovar, based on Jonquet's novel, starring Antonio Banderas to be released widely in the UK on 26 August