7 Women and a Murder is a 2021 Italian comedy murder-mystery film directed by Alessandro Genovesi. It is a remake of the 2002 French film 8 Women (itself based on a play).
One Christmas morning in a wealthy household, seven women discover their patriarch dead with a knife on his back. The seven women are the most likely suspects and they attempt an investigation in which they question and accuse one another, exposing many carefully-kept resentments, secrets and scandals.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The ending is funnier and more uplifting than in 8 Women. Caterina reveals that she helped Marcello fake his death and then he kills himself, same as the original, but instead of closing on them mourning, we get a scene where they alert the police, Agostina flirts with an inspector, and Margherita scolds Caterina for concocting the scheme with her father, telling her that women need to stick together. Nobody seems to be at all shocked or traumatized by what happened. Then they all talk about the possibility of living together in the house. End movie.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Compared to the 2002 movie, the women are far less bothered about Marcello committing suicide.
- Adaptational Name Change: Some of the names are simply the Italian versions of the original French names; Suzon becomes Susanna, Catherine becomes Caterina, Augustine becomes Agostina and Marcel becomes Marcello. The rest of them, however, are truly different:
- Gaby becomes Margherita.
- Pierrette becomes Veronica.
- Mamy becomes Rachele.
- The film's equivalent of both Chanel and Louise is named Esposito Maria Concetta.
- Jacques Farnoux becomes Giannutri.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Susanna comes across as more cowardly and less sweet-natured than Suzon.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Pierrette had an affair with Chanel in the French movie, while Louise was interested in Gaby. Maria (Chanel and Louise's equivalent) shows no evidence of interest in Veronica or Margherita whatsoever.
- Composite Character: Why it's 7 Women instead of 8 Women. The cook Chanel and the chambermaid Louise were combined into one single maid character, Maria. She has Chanel's levelheadedness, and it's revealed she slept with her boss Marcello, like Louise did with Marcel.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Marcello throws himself off his room's balcony. In the 2002 movie, Marcel shoots himself in the head.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Pierrette was Marcel's sister in the original. Veronica is instead an old lover of Marcello's.
