Rebecca Zlotowski – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

A PRIVATE LIFE – Review by Susan Granger

April 6, 2026April 11, 2026 Susan Granger A Private Life, Anne Berest, Daniel Auteuil, jodie foster, mathieu Amalric, Rebecca Zlotowski, Sophie Guillemin, Virginie Efira

Not one of Jodie Foster’s best films but unusual because – in her protagonist performance – she speaks impeccable French, making A Private Life more of a curiosity than a ‘must see.’ When Paris-based American psychoanalyst Lilian Steiner (Foster) learns that her patient of nine years committed suicide, she sets out to prove that she was actually murdered, enlisting help from her ex-husband. While it’s not the first time Foster has acted in French, it’s the most significant role in the language that she’s ever played, working with a director – Rebecca Zlotowski – who co-wrote the script with Anne Berest with her in mind.

Movie of the Week

MOTW January 16, 2026: A PRIVATE LIFE

January 11, 2026January 13, 2026 Jennifer Merin A Private Life, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Daniel Auteuil, jennifer merin, jodie foster, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, mathieu Amalric, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Rebecca Zlotowski, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, Simon Cohen-Solal, Virginie Efira

A psychiatrist’s personal and professional insecurities come together to send her spiraling in the wake of her long-time patient’s death in director Rebecca Zlotowski’s engrossing mystery/thriller A Private Life. Starring Jodie Foster in her French-language feature debut, the film follows Dr. Lilian Steiner (Foster) as she gets caught up in trying to prove that the engimatic Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira) didn’t die by suicide but, in fact, was murdered.

Festivals

New York Film Festival 2025 Roundup – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

October 15, 2025October 24, 2025 Margaret Barton-Fumo A House Full of Dynamite, A Private Life, After the Hunt, claire denis, Duse, Geeta Gandbhir, Jodi Foster, kathryn bigelow, Miroirs No. 3, New York Film Festival, nina hoss, NYFF 2025, Rebecca Zlotowski, Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value', the fence, The Perfect Neighbor, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

This year, the 63rd annual New York Film Festival boasted an impressive roster of women-produced and women-prominent features, spanning across a variety of different genres. In general, this year’s more anticipated, big-ticket films turned out to be less remarkable than some of the quieter releases, as we’ll address in this roundup. The festival opener, for example, Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, while an apt showcase for Julia Roberts, was a coolly received treatise on cancel culture told from within the confines of the ivory tower of academia. Other films in the Main Slate, like Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, while more understated features, received greater praise from audiences and critics alike.

Festivals Reviews

A PRIVATE LIFE (NYFF 2025) – Review by Margaret Barton-Fumo

September 30, 2025October 10, 2025 Margaret Barton-Fumo A Private Life, Daniel Auteuil, Frederick Wiseman, french films, Jodi Foster, NYFF 2025, Rebecca Zlotowski, Vie Privée

A Private Life is an engaging but purposefully jumbled film, following Jodi Foster’s Dr. Lilian Steiner, a confused expat psychoanalyst whose life turns upside-down when one of her patients unexpectedly commits suicide. Living and working in a gorgeous, book-filled Parisian apartment, Lilian tends to her patients distractedly, relying perhaps too heavily on her outdated mini-disc recorder. Abruptly dumped by her longstanding patient Pierre in favor of a hypnotist who apparently helped him quit smoking, Lilian handles the sudden rejection with a slightly befuddled ease—but when she discovers that another one of her patients, Paula has recently died, her reaction is more profound.

Festivals Reviews

A PRIVATE LIFE (TIFF 2025) Review by Leslie Combemale

September 6, 2025September 6, 2025 Leslie Combemale A Private Life, Daniel Auteuil, french films, Jodi Foster, Rebecca Zlotowski, TIFF 2025, Vie Privée

A Private Life is a genre-bending mashup of an absurdist comedy, a romance, a murder mystery, and a surreal examination of self and mortality, It follows expat therapist Lilian as she falls down an emotional and intellectual rabbit hole, the result of losing a longterm client to suicide. A stoic woman who takes self control to the logical absurdity, she finds she can’t stop crying.

Festivals

Women @ Cannes FF 2025 – Christina Jeurling-Birro reports

April 23, 2025June 5, 2025 Christina Jeurling Birro Alice Rohrwacher, Cannes FF 2025, carla simon, Chie Hayakawa, Hafsia Herzi, Julia Ducournau, juliette binoche, june squibb, Kelly Reichardt, Kristen Stewart, lynne ramsay, Mascha Schilinski, Rebecca Zlotowski, scarlett johansson, Un Certain Regard, women at cannes

When the Cannes Film Festival opens for the 78th time on May 13, Juliette Binoche will preside over the main competition jury. A towering presence in international cinema, Binoche follows in the footsteps of another female film icon, Greta Gerwig. This marks the first time in over six decades that two women have consecutively held this prestigious role! All in all. 2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year for women at Cannes.

Reviews

OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN – Review by Nadine Whitney

March 20, 2023March 26, 2023 Nadine Whitney Callie Ferreira-Goncalves, Chiara Mastroianni, Fredrick Wiseman, french films, Les enfants de autres, Music Box Films, Other People’s Children, Rebecca Zlotowski, Roschdy Zem, Victor Lefebvre, Virgine Efira

Other People’s Children is a film that will resonate with many, especially those who for whatever reason (and there are multiple reasons) did not become parents. There is a wealth of kindness in the work and a generosity that radiates from not only the central character of Rachel (Virgine Efira) , but from Rebecca Zlotowski’s writing and direction. In her script, Zlotowski ponders the meaning of motherhood, noting that there are many ways to be a “mother” – it is far more than a biological act; it is an act of love and attention.