There’s a murder mystery, but neither of the LGBTQIA ladies dies. It’s set in the past in exquisite period costume. It’s in French. Women are in love. It’s a gorgeous interracial lesbian couple in love in 1889. Neither of them dies. The end is … happy. Hold me.
Mystère à la Tour Eiffel is a French TV movie released in 2015 that has gained somewhat of an adoring following in certain Internet circles. By its very nature, the movie upends a thousand tropes of how LGBTQIA characters are treated on film (let alone how they’re depicted in other centuries) and instead gives us the enduring relationship between Henriette and Louise. You can watch a compilation of some of their interactions above.
Rarely a day goes by on Tumblr where I don’t see a reblog about Mystère à la Tour Eiffel, usually with excited tags exclaiming #HOLY SHIT #how did i not know about this?? #OMFG!!! The blog Medieval POC, which is dedicated to showcasing people of color in European art history, gives the film an enthusiastic thumbs-up. In their review, titled “Mystère à la Tour Eiffel: The French Lesbian Eiffel Tower Murder Mystery Period Costume Drama of Color in Which ZERO Lesbians Die that You’ve Been Waiting For,” they write:
It turns out, this movie was pretty much exactly what I was hoping it would be.
The murder mystery plot is funny and corny and surprising and had a lot of twists and turns. The romance focuses on chemistry, intimacy, softness, and wooing. Two beautiful ladies in perfect gowns, hair, and makeup in gorgeous settings and lighting must somehow solve a murder mystery that has to do with the building of the Eiffel Tower, rescue each other from jail, asylums, and many more mysterious dangers—all while casually flipping off the patriarchy so they can be together forever in eternal bliss.
The plot is basically this: Louise is a scandalously divorced woman, living with her father who coincidentally is one of the architects who helped design and construct the Eiffel Tower. After a shocking murder occurs there, a paramour foisted upon her by her father takes her on a date to a magic show where she meets the irresistibly beautiful and compelling Henriette. When Louise is framed for a second murder, Henriette offers her assistance in finding some answers before it’s too late.
Have I mentioned that “flipping off the patriarchy so they can be together forever in eternal bliss” is my middle name? It’s fantastic to see Mystère à la Tour Eiffel receive praise from such a knowledgeable and invested audience, and the enthusiasm around it proves that there is a very real hunger for more of the same.
If you want to see it for yourself, industrious Tumblr users have created an English subtitled version, and if you can watch it all in the original French I am extremely jealous. For now, feast your eyes upon these glorious glowing GIFs of Henriette and Louise in Victorian Paris, because love has been winning for a long time.
(via Tumblr, top image via screengrab)
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