The Scapegoat

Lamenting his life, staid Brit John Barratt, who teaches French at a provincial university, is Paris for the holidays as usual, this time however not giving much thought to what he will do i.e. return to Britain or not, after what would be the official end of his vacation. He finally understands the looks of familiarity he receives in Paris after he meets his double, French nobleman Jacques De Gue, who too laments his life being stuck to the traditions he needs to uphold. After the two lookalikes spend a drunken evening together, John awakens to find Jacques gone, but all indication of him being John Barratt gone with Jacques. Out of circumstance, John is forced to assume Jacques' identity at his country chateau outside of the village of Villadeau, that is until he can find a way to reclaim his own identity. In the process, he hopes to discover why Jacques has pulled this ruse. He finds that Jacques has a problematic relationship with those in his sphere, from his morphine-addicted bedridden mother, the Countess, to his emotionally distant wife Francoise, his equally distant sister Blanche, his buffoonish brother-in-law Aristide, his neglected teenage daughter Marie-Noel, and his not-so hidden mistress Bela in Villadeau. As John is able to reconcile those relationships to some degree, he learns Jacques' more nefarious reasons for doing what he did, which may threaten his life and those around him.