A Private Life
A few years ago, I watched Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Other People’s Children,” and it was a fascinating look at the responsibility of watching over another person’s child as someone coming into a romantic relationship. Here, we watch a therapist dive into the dynamics of the family of a patient who’s sudden passing feels out of character. Or maybe she wasn’t paying close enough attention?
Jodie Foster plays Lilian Steiner, a psychologist who often feels burn out with her patients. She listens, and tries to guide them through their issues, but there’s also a detachment that feels like it’s around with her job. I cannot imagine the anxiety of a therapist who loses a patient, especially when it appears as though they committed suicide. The patient in question is Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira), and Lilian is is disbelief. On top of that, another patient is suing her after he seems to have gotten more help in one session with a hypnotist than in all his time with Lilian. When Paula’s daughter (Luàna Bajrami) has Lilian questioning whether Paula was murdered, it sets Lilian on a journey to learn the truth.
One of the key points about Foster in this film is that she is- largely- speaking French; it’s not the first time she has done so in the film, but it can be jarring given that it’s throughout the entire film. Regardless of whether she’s speaking English or French, it’s impossible for Foster not to project intelligence- even if the character’s choices are not always intelligent- and that is important for this role. She becomes a detective and stops being a therapist, which certainly crosses ethical boundaries, but we come to feel like she was particularly invested in Paula, almost on a personal basis. She tries to get close to her family, but Paula’s husband (Mathieu Amalric) is adamantly against it. She eventually finds her way to the same hypnotist that her patient went to, and it opens even more doors of suspicion for her, even if they are nonsensical.
“A Private Life” is about Lilian discovering the reality of a patient she probably didn’t want to understand, Paula’s truth in her life, and how Lilian- while claiming to be present for her patients, maybe could be more so. The screenplay by Zlotowski and Anne Berest does have humor in it, but it’s more the emotional journey that Lilian goes through that counts more, and having a lead like Foster makes it a little more impactful than it might have been. She is the engine that keeps Zlotowski’s film running.
