This evocative depiction of a Paris brothel at the end of the Belle Époque in 1900 turns the viewer into a voyeur in a secretive closed world, simultaneously decadent and dangerous. The sisterly camaraderie between the girls helps them pass the languid hours and endure the cruelty they sometimes encounter. But this is a world on the brink of collapse, and sordid though it often is, the alternatives may be worse for some of the women.