Dir: Rebecca Zlotowski | Drama 100′
Jodie Foster stars in this Paris-set psychological drama as American shrink Lilian Steiner who sets out to investigate the apparent suicide of her client.
If you’re expecting a classy thriller from French director Rebecca Zlotowski then Vie Privee will be an involving disappointment. What starts as a potential murder mystery soon turns into a confusing exploration of the psychoanalyst herself, before descending into a rather messy and directionless quest for various ‘truths’.
Prickly, persistent and prone to utter self-belief Lilian emerges an intractable character who has alienated her likeable son (Vincent Lacoste) and her tolerant ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil). She has even failed one of her patients in his bid to stop smoking.
At the funeral of the client Paula Cohen-Solal (Efira) Lilian is unsettled by a furious attack from her widower Simon (Almaric) and becomes convinced that he done away with his wife. She even dreams she and Paula were lovers. Lilian’s murder investigation then leads down all sorts of rabbit-holes, Gabriel joining Lilian in the search, mostly in darkness or heavy rain, during which the two reunite.
Fred Wiseman gets a vignette as her own analyst suggesting some unexplored issues involving Lilian’s mother. But these plot points are never explored and lead nowhere, and neither does the rest of the film which soon becomes rather silly, Foster embracing the upbeat comedy moments with surprising success. @MeredithTaylor
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2025 |