Although Zola wrote Thérèse Raquin some seven decades prior, Carné's adaptation comes off as a variation on the better-known The Postman Rings Twice. While this is a fairly potent film by its last act, as far as variations on that theme go it is inferior to Visconti's Ossessione. Vallone resembles Burt Lancaster in both appearance and woodenness, and it is as if Signoret is here rehearsing for her role in Clouzot's Les Diaboliques.

Raf Vallone sucks and seems to bring down everyone around him.