Two especially fine actresses, Charlotte Rampling as Ellen and Karen Young as Brenda, find themselves in heated competition for the same young man, Legba, portrayed by handsome Ménothy Cesar, who could fill many a woman’s fantasies. Ellen views him as her own territory and is deeply upset when Brenda, whose passions had been stirred by him previously, arrives and expects to take up where she left off.

Rampling, whose acting skills are well known, reflects Ellen’s anger and jealousy and although she tries to act as if she is in thorough control of her life and emotions as an accomplished professor and a woman of experience, she also shows her vulnerability and desperation in the course of events that shake her self-esteem and the pattern of her life.

Young, an actress I have long admired for her talent and ability to explore the depths of a role, makes the most of an especially meaty one here. She projects Brenda’s determination to exercise her right to have what she wants and not be cowed by someone else who feels she has the right and power to stand in the way. Brenda talks herself into feeling she loves Legba, but also reveals the strength to move onward when she must and seek other places where she can find pleasure. Both Rampling and Young give commanding performances and rivet one to the nuances they discover in the characters they play.

The rivalry between the women, with the attendant bitchiness and the resort ambiance, would be enough to hold one’s interest. But Cantet, who co-wrote the screenplay with Robin Campillo based on stories by Dany Laferrière, has set the personal experiences against the turbulent background of Haiti, marred by poverty and gripped by danger and intrigue. An early scene sets the tone of angst, when a woman at the airport pleads with a distinguished looking Haitian to take her young daughter to protect her against the possibility of being kidnapped and forced into a horrid life, or even be killed. It turns out that the man, Albert (Lys Ambroise), who refuses, is but a waiter at the resort, although a man of great presence who is a silent observer of the doings there and resentfully aware of what is going on behind the scenes in Haiti.

The plot, which grows melodramatic, involves the daily danger that Legba faces. He makes a touching visit to his mother and turns over money that he has accumulated. Ellen, realizing that his life is on the line, offers to help, but she attaches strings his dignity does not allow him to accept.