Vie privée

Opening in the Paris office of Dr. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster), a celebrated psychologist and bilingual American expat, VIE PRIVÉE immediately lays out a series of clues, or traps, within our reach. One: Lilian leaving a voicemail for a regular patient who has missed three consecutive sessions; two: the patient’s daughter returning the call with news that her unreliable mother has died; three: the arrival of fine-drawn evidence that points to murder. As with all great, unwitting detectives, the ever-pragmatic Lilian overextends herself in pursuit of a tidy solution, roping in both her ex-husband and a sought-after hypnotist. Rebecca Zlotowski’s knack for domestic unease duly constructs a thorny family tree from which to pluck suspects, but Lilian’s wandering subconscious keeps spilling into the practical details of the investigation, betraying her analyst impulses. Harkening back to the golden age of detective fiction, VIE PRIVÉE builds upon the conspiratorial nature of memory while remaining light on its feet and inflected with comedy. “Look without seeing”, repeats the hypnotist, a fitting instruction for both Lilian and the audience. (Saffron Maeve)

Rebecca Zlotowski: BELLE ÉPINE (2010), GRAND CENTRAL (2013), PLANETARIUM (2016), UNE FILLE FACILE (2019), LES ENFANTS DES AUTRES (2022)