A Private Life
Right after Dr. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) leaves a message for Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira, "Benedetta"), concerned that the woman hasn't shown up for three appointments in a row, another patient, Pierre Hallan (Noam Morgensztern) arrives unexpectedly to tell Lillian that after 8 years in which he spent $32K Euro for her to help him quit smoking, he's just achieved his goal in one $50 Euro session with hypnotist Jessica Grangé (Sophie Guillemin, "With a Friend Like Harry..."). When he leaves, Lillian listens to a call that came in, a response to hers from Paula's daughter, Valérie (Luàna Bajrami, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"), to let her know that Paula passed away. When Lillian learns it was suicide, she begins to delve deeper into "A Private Life."
Laura's Review: B
Cowriter (with her "Other People's Children" collaborator Anne Berest)/director Rebecca Zlotowski's latest is like a French take on "Manhattan Murder Mystery" where the self appointed investigator is a psychiatrist who stands to solve a lot more about herself and her former marriage. In her second French language performance, Jodie Foster leaves us with a Lillian who is much more well adjusted and in tune with her family than the rather tetchy woman we first meet.
Lillian doesn't seem at all fazed by Pierre's accusations, accepting his termination of her services with cool professionalism, but she is slightly more rattled when, recognized by Paula's husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric) as his wife's therapist at her wake, she is screamed at to get out. Hurrying down the stairs, Lillian records her thoughts about his aggressive behavior, rejecting any idea that she might bear some responsibility for the woman's death. When she is again contacted by Valérie, she is told that her patient committed suicide by 'swallowing everything you prescribed for her.' Lillian appears to keep her defensive guard up, but cannot control the tears welling up in her eyes. Rejecting an emotional cause, she pays a visit to her ex, optometrist Gabriel Haddad (Daniel Auteuil).
Gabe's profession is one of Berest and Zlotowski's many psychological flourishes as he sees his ex-wife far more clearly than she sees herself and the casting of Auteuil was a masterstroke, his and Foster's chemistry off the charts. While she denies ever thinking about him, it is obvious he is still crazy about her and the sexual charge between them is giddily flirtatious. He also tells her there is nothing physically wrong causing her tears, so Lillian does something out of character - she goes to see that hypnotist.
Grangé puts Lillian under quickly and we travel with her as she's directed to go down a flight of stairs and open a door. She declares herself not ready to face what's behind the first one and moves on, finding herself in WWII era Paris adjusting a cello in an orchestra pit with Paula, also a musician, her lover who, in a bit of dream logic, is expecting her child. Paula's husband is the conductor and he points a gun while Lillian and Gabe's adult son Julien (Vincent Lacoste, "Smoking Causes Coughing") barges in with the militia. Grangé declares Lillian very susceptible to the technique, stating she's never seen anyone go under so quickly, but Lillian bristles, insulting the woman on her way out. Her eyes have also stopped tearing and she'll come to regret her behavior.
Lillian begins to listen to recordings of Paula's sessions, reminded that Paula had told her Valérie was not Simon's daughter but that if Valérie found out she 'would kill her.' Lillian now becomes obsessed with the idea that her patient was murdered by her daughter, and after her office is broken into, minidisks stolen, she'll find Gabe in his usual bistro and begin to thrash out her theories. Gabe has his own reasons for throwing in with Lillian's investigation and, after both imbibe in a lot of red wine, his rationale is justified.
While Lillian continues to snoop into everything from Paula's pharmacy to her husband Simon's trash at his country retreat, the real story here is how a fractured family is healed when its matriarch is forced to see herself as others do. Her old mentor Dr. Goldstein (documentarian Frederick Wiseman) quickly shuts her down when she goes to him for validation, telling her she hasn't changed, was always 'so sure of herself,' the behavior we experienced in the film's opening minutes. When she stops by her son Julian's, it is for him to order the discontinued minidiscs she uses to record her sessions on and he notes she only sees him when she needs something, even having to be shamed into spending a minute with her new grandson. And when she relates her hypnosis revelation at a family dinner, it reveals, cruelly as her daughter-in-law (Ji-Min Park) points out, her distant relationship with her son.
Composer Robin Coudert's ("Revenge") playful score utilizes everything from castanets to flutes, music atop which Zlotowski's film floats, bobs and weaves, cinematographer George Lechaptois's ("Other People's Children") frequent shots down spiral staircases reflecting Lillian's rabbit hole of a mystery. The filmmaker really wanted Foster and the actress embraces the role, the tightened jaw and cool demeanor of the psychiatrist we first meet gradually softening as she leans into the people who love her that she's previously kept at arms length. It is a joy to see Auteuil clicking so well with the American actress, the two clearly having fun. Watch too for other legendary French actors Aurore Clément and Irène Jacob in smaller roles.
Robin's Review: B
Sony Pictures Classics releases "A Private Life" in NY on 1/16/26, opening wider on 1/30/26.
