Movie · 2025 · Drama, Mystery, Crime · 1h 48m · R · French
Curator score: 2.8/10 (35.2K ratings)
Overview
The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.8/10
IMDb: 6.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.05/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Metacritic: 67
TMDB: 5.7/10
Director
Rebecca Zlotowski
Production
Les Films Velvet, France 3 Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Buenos Hair
Cast
Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste, Luàna Bajrami, Noam Morgensztern, Sophie Guillemin, Frederick Wiseman, Aurore Clément, Irène Jacob, Park Ji-min, Jean Chevalier, Emma Ravier, Scott Agnesi Delapierre, Lucas Bleger, Jérôme Lenôtre, Marlise Bété, Marin Judas, Abdoul Bamba
Curator Review
Verdict
A Private Life has a strong hook, a magnetic lead performance, and enough psychological intrigue to keep it watchable, but the mystery reportedly gives way to a looser, less satisfying tonal drift. It sounds more interesting as a character study about grief, projection, and professional unraveling than as a tightly built crime story.
Best for
Viewers who like actor-driven psychological dramas
Fans of French adult dramas with a literary, talky feel
People curious about Jodie Foster working in French
Audiences open to mystery plots that become character studies
Skip if
You want a propulsive, twist-heavy thriller
You prefer clean genre mechanics and a tightly solved mystery
You dislike tonal drift or scripts that feel unfocused
You are expecting a sharper satire or a more overtly queer angle
Overview
A Private Life begins with a genuinely promising premise: a psychiatrist convinced one of her patients has been murdered, and a star lead who can make even a procedural premise feel unstable and intimate. Jodie Foster’s presence gives the film real authority, and the setup suggests a smart blend of mystery, professional anxiety, and emotional self-deception.
Worth noting
What seems to hold it back is execution. The film reportedly loosens its grip on the thriller elements and settles into a more diffuse, conversational mode that never fully becomes either a satire or a suspense machine. That can work if you’re in the mood for a murkier European drama, but it may frustrate viewers expecting sharper momentum.
Bottom line
The result is a mixed but interesting watch: less a polished whodunit than a study of a woman losing her bearings while trying to impose order on someone else’s death. If you’re here for performance and atmosphere, there’s enough to recommend; if you want narrative precision, this may feel undercooked.
Top Letterboxd reviews
teobyn (4★) · 975 likes
could have been gayer
salma!! (2★) · 568 likes
so they decided to abandon the idea that she might be lesbian?…..disappointing 😒
Adam Bensoltane (4★) · 509 likes
You know it's a fiction when Jodie Foster plays a straight woman
shookone (1.5★) · 416 likes
a wonderful premise: Jodie Foster as cold-hearted psychoanalyst who lives every therapist's nightmare: patients withdraw their love from her, patients questioning her proficiency, patients killing themselves. she has to find out of this subconscious jungle.
from there on Zlotowski creates a messy, sloppy, unfocused thing; quickly leaving anything thriller-esque about it, shifting to a way lighter tone, without ever achieving anything close to a farce or satire. A Private Life becomes an odd mix of ideas but basically remains in the classic loquacious tropes of French cinema without a proper compass in his rucksack.