Our first film in the 2026 rentrée is A Private Life (Vie privée), from 2025, directed by Rebecca Zlotowski and starring Jodie Foster (yes, Ms. Foster can speak French fluently) and a stellar supporting cast. Picking up where we left off with Confidentially Yours in July, we present another mystery, this time with Foster playing a psychiatrist working in Paris whose connections with her patients lead her into needing to uncover family secrets.
Join us at our new classroom space at 85 Brookwood Avenue #12 in Santa Rosa at 3 pm on Wednesday September 9 to enjoy the film, followed by an in-person bilingual discussion led by Joelle Pluchon and Peter Zingg.
Mahnola Dargis of the New York Times wrote:
[Lillian’s (Jodie Foster’s) problems with eyes that won’t stop watering] as well as several striking overhead shots of vertigo-inducing staircases — along with Lilian’s abrupt transformation into an amateur detective — suggest that Zlotowski watched a couple of Hitchcock movies at some stage in the making of “A Private Life.” There’s a touch of “Spellbound” here, Hitchcock’s 1945 psychological thriller with Gregory Peck as a wounded soul healed by the love of a psychoanalyst played by Ingrid Bergman. Zlotowski similarly thickens her plot with romance, revelations of trauma and surrealistic visions, but with a light touch that becomes progressively playful. The more Lilian discovers, the less cleareyed she seems and the more winning her personality becomes.
The event is free, and popcorn and refreshments will be served.
Film Details
Original title / Titre originale: Vie privée (2025)
Running time / Durée: 1h48m
Genres: Mystery, Crime, Drama
Directed by / Réalisé par: Rebecca Zlotowski
Casting: Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste
Stream it online / Regarder sur: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
Lilian Steiner est une psychiatre reconnue. Un jour, elle apprend la mort de l’une de ses patientes. Troublée, Lilian se persuade qu’il s’agit d’un assassinat, elle décide alors de mener son enquête…
The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.