Plot summary

The film is divided into three self-contained episodes, set in different periods and featuring female protagonists, whose names all begin with the letter "M" as in "evil" and who commit crimes of passion.Margherita In 1520, painter Raphael Sanzio spies on his mistress Margherita Luti as she makes love to her lover Tomaso in the ruins of Rome. As she sits in the painter's studio, the wealthy banker Bernardo Bini spies on her through the keyhole. Raphael, noticing this, pierces Bini's eye with a paintbrush. In revenge, the banker seduces Margherita with jewels and incites her to murder Raphael with poisoned cherries. But Margherita, outwitting everyone, poisons Bini and Raphael, before returning with the jewels to her lover Tomaso.Marceline In end of century in France, Marceline Cain, the promiscuous teenage daughter of a bourgeois family, spends all her time with her rabbit, with whom she enjoys intimate moments on the lawn. Her parents, annoyed by their inability to control her wild behavior, put the rabbit in the pan and serve it for dinner. Later that evening, Marceline visits local delivery boy Petrus at the abattoir where he works. There, Marceline loses her virginity in a sheep pen and faints at the sight of her own blood. Pétrus, mistakenly believing he has killed her, hangs himself, realizing his mistake just before he expires. Marceline returns home and slits her parents' throats. Placed in a convent for girls, she delights the other boarders with her macabre story.Marie In contemporary Paris, Marie, the wife of a wealthy gallery owner, is kidnapped by the criminal Antoine outside a bookshop. She is gagged in a van, handcuffed and forced to phone her rich husband to demand a large ransom. She later meets her husband in a busy street. The kidnapper, guarding her through the sights of his gun, discovers that he hasn't yet paid the ransom, but was about to spend the money on a painting. He then takes her to a disused warehouse, where he rapes her in the van. Fortunately, Marie's black Doberman, César, who has followed her scent through the streets of Paris, comes to her rescue, unmasking Antoine and, when he unexpectedly appears, her husband too. Marie, still naked, embraces her savior.