In A Private Life, Foster’s Lilian is a fluently French-speaking psychiatrist who has spent much of her life absorbed by the qualms and concerns of her patients while remaining stubborn about her own. She has noisy neighbours, a complicated relationship with her son, and is about to get sued by patient Pierre (Noam Morgensztern).
Lilian hasn’t heard from another of her patients, Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira), in a quite some time, and it soon becomes clear that she’s died.
Although from this point, the feature mostly concerns itself with finding out what happened to Paula, Zlotowski and co-writers Anne Berest and Gaëlle Macé are just as interested in exploring the compelling characters surrounding the mystery.
In this sense, it’s a welcome departure from the classic, more mechanical conventions of the whodunnit, a sub-genre which has been re-popularised over the last decade largely by Rian Johnson’s crowd-pleasing Knives Out series.
It’s not obsessed with overcrowding the narrative, forcing suspects into a story they do not belong just to keep the audience dangling painfully between possibilities. Instead, it supplies us with a pool of well-crafted options, then works to build texture on top of them.
Meanwhile, as in Other People’s Children, Zlotowski again makes use of the impeccable talents of Efira, here in a smaller but vital role. Even with limited screen time, appearing mostly in soft, halo-lit flashbacks, Efira’s ethereal appearances bring an elusive interest to Paula’s mystery that is only heightened by some dreamlike cinematography from Georges Lechaptois.
Further bizarre, uncomfortable sequences also elevate the film's mysterious tone, complementing Lilian’s possibly unravelling mental state. There are flashes of untidiness within these scenes, with much left for audience interpretation – and at times, they certainly do enough to muddle the film’s tone – though their inclusion is not entirely without merit.
View Green Video on the source websiteThe film's final act also may not completely satisfy every viewer, as there seems to have been room to explore its implications further, especially given the film’s relatively concise runtime.
Even so, such imperfections do little to diminish the feature’s overall effect: for its purpose was never solely to solve Paula’s potential murder, but also to explore the response to her passing – and with a sharp script, an excellent ensemble and more than enough style, A Private Life proves itself to be a refreshing addition to the whodunnit canon.
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