As production progresses, the boundaries of Ethel's identity begin to dissolve:

Lucas exerts total control over Ethel’s life, pushing her into a state of emotional hysteria to extract a raw performance.

The story follows (Valérie Kaprisky), an inexperienced aspiring actress who earns a living through nude modeling. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she is cast by Lucas Kessling (Francis Huster), an abrasive Czech émigré director, to star in a film adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Possessed (also known as Demons ).

By the end, Ethel can no longer distinguish between her real life and the roles she is forced to play, leading to a psychological breakdown. Themes and Style Review: La Femme Publique - Slant Magazine

Ethel is eventually manipulated into impersonating the deceased wife of another Czech immigrant, Milan (Lambert Wilson), to lure him into a political assassination plot.