M, 103 minutes
4 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
An odd couple is a movie staple at least as old as the screwball comedies of the 1940s. With all the banter and the bickering and a fair amount of sizzle, it is fertile ground, of course. In this new French comedy, the irresistible odd pair idea is handled with panache by two movie veteran actors from opposite sides of the Atlantic, dabbling in a bit of citizen sleuthing in Paris.
As a divorced couple with a long history, who can still speak to each other and then some, Jodie Forster and Daniel Auteuil are a treat as a pair who embark on an investigation of the current true crime variety. In other words, rank amateurs.
Dr Lilian Steiner, a psychiatrist and Gabriel Haddad, an ophthalmologist, are a pair of medicos but worlds apart in temperament. Although they haven’t seen each other in a while, Lilian is confident that she can find her ex at his fave resto for a Monday night. She joins him for a bowl of pasta. They still snap and crackle along together. The problematic relationship with her alienated adult son, a new father who has made the two of them grandparents, left breezily unexamined.
Her problem? It’s not me, she insists, it’s my eyes! She keeps tearing up and cannot put a stop to it. But perhaps more urgent is her suspicion about the recent sudden death of a long-standing patient was not a case of suicide at all. Were a patient about to take their life, surely a competent psych would have a hunch that it was likely to happen?
An odd couple, a stylish pair of citizen detectives on a true crime adventure
Lilian wasn’t having the best of days when she heard news of the death of Paula, played in ethereal cameo by Virginie Efira. Another client of long-standing has just dropped by to announce that he will finish his sessions and claim a refund, because Lilian has not succeeded in ridding him of his smoking habit. Alternative therapy with a hypnotist had done it instead.
At Paula’s wake, the dead woman’s intense daughter Valerie (Luana Bajrami) and the bereaved widow, Simon (Mathieu Amalric, also intense), are now behaving strangely towards her. Lilian is shaken by them and by the creepy cigarette addict who keeps turning up unannounced.
You might think that when a psychiatrist and an ophthalmologist investigate a suspected case of true crime they would have the skills requisite for the task. But Lilian keeps records of her sessions with patients on mini discs rather than as digital files. She is not exactly tech savvy. In ways that occasionally stretch credibility, detectives Lilian and Gabe are amusingly inept, and it’s not just the technology they use.
As events unfold, the enigma of Paula deepens, the mystery of Lilian’s attraction to her is less opaque. A hallucinating dream sequence in which both are musicians in an orchestra pit while Simon conducts above, wielding a gun instead of a baton, is one among several moments in which the narrative hares off in another direction. A scene with a figure in a red coat disappearing down a deserted street after Lilian’s car has been vandalised had me reminiscing the iconic thriller tropes of the 70s.
Foster as a professional woman having a crisis of confidence, with affable Auteuil along for the ride
However, director and co-writer Rebecca Zlotowski effectively harnesses the comic potential of this drama set in a Jewish family and the community it connects with really well. Zlotowski has been building a profile for herself with films like Grand Central with Lea Seydoux and Tahar Rahim together, and Other People’s Children (with Efira in the lead role), since her directing won a couple of best first feature film awards in 2011.
A Private Life (Vie Privée) is fortunate to have Jodie Foster on board. She brings so much heft to every performance and here she speaks fluent French, which may come as a revelation although it isn’t the first time she has done so on screen. It’s another performance in which the charismatic actor is strong, if a little juddery here, at the same time down-to-earth relatable.
A twisty plot, a Hollywood star playing against type as a professional woman having a crisis of confidence, with an affable Daniel Auteuil along for the ride. It is very good fun and a pleasure to be in the company of a pair of stylish olds, as citizen detectives on their true crime adventure.
Published in the Canberra Times on 16 May 2026, and on Rotten Tomatoeséé