Nicole (Nathalie Nell) is a hardworking young nurse in a rural area of France. Her fiancé Jacque (Alain Foures) is away in the Army so she spends her leisure moments with her mother and her best friends, a married couple.
One evening, Nicole is knocked off her motorbike by four men in a van. They force her to go with them to an isolated area where she is brutalized and raped. After she is found by some passerby and treated by a doctor, Nicole can't rid herself of the shame, loneliness, and the self-disgust she feels.
The sharp edge of this film becomes apparent when Nicole decides to file charges against "persons unknown." The reason is spoken by a friend: "A silent victim is an accomplice." Nicole's actions shock both her mother who feels that such a tactic is improper and her fiancé who is worried about his own reputation. When the culprits are apprehended, their families plead with Nicole to drop the charges. For the sake of other potential victims, she refuses to do so.
Rape of Love is a forceful and informative examination of rape and what it does to the victim. Nathalie Nells' performance is outstanding in its empathetic power. Yannick Bellon's direction is sure-handed and intense