In Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, German novelist Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) becomes the prime suspect of her husband’s death. Helping Sandra out is a lawyer friend, Maitre Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud), who has to represent her both in press conferences and in actual court proceedings. He has a climb that’s uphill enough. Together, they have to deal with expert witnesses and a prosecution lawyer who digs up a recording of an argument she and her husband have the day before he dies.
There are elements that would normally make a film like Anatomy of a Fall fall apart, but surprisingly, they make the film better. No, I’m not talking about Sandra’s son (Milo Machado-Graner), who feels as Sandra thinks. The direct experience of watching that misogynistic prosecutor may make viewers feel like they’re watching that one bad scene in Psycho, but longer. He seems like a character who wants to reduce in a film about digging for unknown knowns. But he may be digging his own way.
Balancing that guy out is Hüller, who is excellent at playing out her character’s imperfect strategies. One can be both under the kind of scrutiny that Sandra experiences throughout the course of Anatomy. What we see her is a confluence of great acting and writing. She may make viewers feel like every move of the needle is a deliberate manipulation. At others, we see someone who knows that people are monsters but insists she is not the kind who kills.
- Rated: 18
- Genre: crime, Drama, Mystery
- Release Date: 9/7/2023
- Directed by: Justine Triet
- Starring: Milo Machado-Graner, Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud
- Produced by: David Thion, Philippe Martin
- Written by: Arthur Harari, Justine Triet
- Studio: CNC, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine
