If a husband is found dead at the base of a mountain in the woods, does that automatically mean his wife pushed him?
In Justine Triet‘s Palme d’Or-winning “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Toni Erdmann” star Sandra Hüller takes a turn, playing a chilly bisexual novelist who is accused of offing her spouse. Added twist: he’s been killed in the very same manner she previously described in one of her murder mystery books. Director Triet co-wrote the script with her real-life spouse, Arthur Harari, the filmmaker behind “Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle.”
“Anatomy of a Fall” debuted at Cannes earlier this year, where the film won the festival’s top prize, making Triet only the third woman to win the Palme d’Or. The feature is continuing to make its rounds on the the festival circuit with upcoming screenings at TIFF and NYFF, and the film will hit theaters later this fall.
The official synopsis of the Neon release reads: “For the past year, Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Samuel’s suspicious death is presumed murder, and Sandra becomes the main suspect. What follows is not just an investigation into the circumstances of Samuel’s death but an unsettling psychological journey into the depths of Sandra and Samuel’s conflicted relationship.”
Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth, Saadia Bentaïeb, Camille Rutherford, Anne Rotger, and Sophie Fillières also star. The film is produced by Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion.
IndieWire’s Cannes review of the film compared “Anatomy of a Fall” to “Basic Instinct” if it took place in the courtroom, noting, “‘Anatomy of a Fall’ is never really about the trial, and doesn’t only explore the chasm between empiricism and emotion; at its searing best, the film tracks family destruction with cold precision. If an artist relies on memories, why not also share nightmares? Why not build a polar vortex that crushes fact under fiction, that lifts from last night’s argument, today’s viewing of a ’90s classic and tomorrow’s worst fears? A cyclone that sends the mind soaring, and primes the heart for a hefty fall.”
“Anatomy of a Fall” premieres in New York City and Los Angeles on Friday, October 13. Check out the trailer below.
