In the 1930s, middle-aged museum curator Tauno Saarinen yearns for a young beautiful maid and writes a lengthy confession about his feelings which he gives his wife Elisabet to read. Elisabet shows the writings to her husband's sister Naimi, an art critic who tries to reconcile with her ex-husband despite a spiteful mother-in-law. Meanwhile, things gets worse between Tauno and Elisabet when the young maid, seduced by Tauno, becomes pregnant. Based on a novel by Helvi Hämäläinen, first published in 1941 but partly censored until 1995 because allegedly based on true incidents involving well-known people.

Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä on vuonna 1998 ilmestynyt Kaisa Rastimon ohjaama historiallinen draamaelokuva, joka pohjautuu Helvi Hämäläisen vuonna 1941 julkaistuun samannimiseen kirjaan. Elokuva kertoo ylempään keskiluokkaan kuuluvan akateemisen perheenisän aviorikoksesta 1930-luvun Suomessa.