The Cinematheque

“What appears at first to be a style and world familiar to the mainstream romcom is slyly undermined, poked at, and subverted.”

Elena Lazic, MUBI Notebook

Justine Triet’s first run at theatrical courtroom intrigue is also the film most heavily inscribed by her admiration for a particular class of American cinema. The title character, a lawyer played by Virginie Efira (who also leads in Triet’s Sibyl) is not so far from the high-performing workaholics seen in the dramedies of James L. Brooks. She’s always ​“on,” even as a series of incongruous social settings and responsibilities press on her ideals—a friend’s wedding, a media circus, a long list of failed relationships, and a sense of losing touch with her two young daughters who are just beginning to reach the age of self-awareness. Triet probes this high-activity surface, and its attendant fear of failure, with a controlled sense of rhythm, whether observing a crucial scene involving a dog witness(!) or the impassioned monologues that Victoria slings at adversaries and close confidantes alike. Triet’s expertly curated soundtrack is the film’s secret weapon.

In French with English subtitles

“Captivating … A multivalent spin on the psyche of the modern, bourgeois woman.”

Beatrice Loayza, Reverse Shot

“A superlative screwball.”

Evan Morgan, In Review Online