Drowning by Numbers (1988)

Three women sharing the name Cissie Colpitts each drown an inconvenient husband, repeatedly calling on a lovesick coroner whose conscience begins to buckle under the strain.

Peter Greenaway's darkly comic tale follows three generations of women, all named Cissie Colpitts, who each rid themselves of troublesome husbands by drowning, drawing the local coroner into an increasingly strained web of cover-ups. Blending comedy, crime and drama, the film stars Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson, with Bernard Hill as the conflicted Madgett. It is a striking example of Greenaway's stylised, painterly approach to storytelling.