Movie Review: Anatomy of a Fall

2023 has proven to be a very interesting year for films for a variety of reasons. We have seen what would at least initially appear to be the death of by-the-book superhero movies with massively inflated budgets while also witnessing a stunning rise of interest in more offbeat and intellectual auteur driven fare. Even the 2 lone successes in the saturated superhero market were the only 2 whose creators were able to leave their distinct mark, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Aside from those though, most of the real hits this year, either in box office dollars or cultural caché have been unique in a variety of ways; i.e. Barbie, Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Godzilla Minus One, Society of the Snow, etc. As it becomes more widely available, I could see writer (with Arthur Harari) / director Justine Triet’s French drama Anatomy of a Fall slotting in nicely with that group thanks to the compelling story and phenomenal performances at its core. The fact that the dialogue is largely in English should also prevent anyone especially averse to subtitles from skipping it.

German novelist Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) is being interviewed by a young student in her new home, a mountain chalet outside Grenoble. In the middle of their conversation, her husband Samuel (Samual Theis) begins blasting music from the upper floors so loudly that it leads her to reschedule the interview. After the student leaves, the couple’s son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), who is legally blind due to an accident years earlier, takes his guide dog Snoop (Messi) for a walk through the snowy landscape to escape the noise. When he returns, he stumbles upon the corpse of his father, having apparently fallen from the upper floors of the building. When Sandra hears her son’s shouts for help she runs to the scene and immediately dials for emergency services, but after the initial chaos calms down, the Police believe that Samuel’s death was not an accident and that she is the only suspect in his murder. Sandra contacts her old friend, attorney Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud), and he agrees to take on her defense.

There is a lot going on here, and the movie handles it all deftly. At many points it is a straight-forward, though very well-made, courtroom drama, but Triet uses the rules of the French legal system to make the film less about whether Sandra is guilty or not but more about the slow dissolution of a once happy marriage. As the prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz, perfectly detestable) forces her to relive her relationship through her own testimony and those of the people around her, we learn about the flaws of each party and can plainly see the pain these recollections inflict on Sandra. Daniel is a key witness in the trial and insists on being in the coutroom as the evidence is presented so he can try to make sense of what has happened.

There is not a single performance in this movie that doesn’t ring true. The role of Sandra was written with Hüller in mind, and she inhabits it fully, displaying an impressive range of emotions throughout. She adroitly moves from brief moments of joy to anger at her circumstances to deeply felt sorrow, and always with maternal affection for her son whenever he is in the room. On the other hand, the role of Daniel starts out as relatively quiet, but when he finally opens up as the trial progresses, he comes into his own and delivers one of the movie’s more memorable monologues, the delivery of which is so flawless that it’s hard not to immediately imagine Graner having a long career in acting. Seriously, the acting in this movie is so on point that even Messi the dog feels award-worthy (and in fact he was given one at Cannes).

This should also help propel Justine Triet’s career to new heights. The film has a beautiful and naturalistic atmosphere, largely eschewing the bravura tricks of other filmmakers. When she does make a bolder decision behind the camera it truly stands out, like during a trial sequence focused on Daniel in which we watch him tilt his head back and forth while the prosecution and defense argue back and forth around him. The camera remains focused solely on Daniel, panning side to side like at a tennis match, but only ever hearing the participants. In that moment we are fully inside the shoes of this confused young man, unable to see while important aspects of his life are being decided for him.

While it is lacking in any sort of visceral action, this is a riveting and sometimes harrowing story. Sandra and Samuel’s arguments will ring true for many, and the cruelty of the criminal justice system which only seeks to find someone to blame without any real regard for “truth” will certainly raise the ire of viewers. When in the end we find the film pondering the very nature of truth itself we know we’ve just witnessed something truly special that we won’t soon forget. I can’t find a single flaw in this masterwork of a movie and would wholeheartedly recommend it for everyone. ★★★★★