This new murder mystery sidesteps the clichés. #murdermystery #JodieFoster #whattowatch

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Jodie Foster speaks fluent French because, of course, she does. She's awesome. She's Jodie Foster. Murder mysteries, I'm sure you know, are all the rage at the moment. They are everywhere. There's ones with like podcasters, with geriatrics, somehow sheep are in there, too. But, this new French film, A Private Life, is very different from the pack. It's pure class, and it's really, really engrossing. Foster plays a psychiatrist who learns that one of her patients apparently suicided. But, after 9 years of treating this woman, she's convinced that she would never do that and suspects foul play. She believes there may be clues in the recordings of their therapy sessions. So, this gives the film like elements of the listening thriller, i.e., the conversation blowout. But, don't go thinking you can put A Private Life into a box. The plot thickens, of course, but never in those cliche ways. There's no aha moments.

[00:00:43]There's no meeting someone under a streetlight late at night. There's no finger-pointing monologues.

[00:00:47]Atmospherically, A Private Life gets bolder as it progresses, and of course, as it fleshes out the story. But, at all times, at all times, this is the film that is less interested in the details of the case than what they mean psychologically for the protagonist.

[00:01:00]That makes this film very different from your average murder mystery and a very special experience. For more of my thoughts on this film, check out the article I wrote on Flix.