Anatomy Of A Fall (2023)

 

Genre: Thriller/ Crime

Time: 2h 33mins

Director: Justine Triet

Quick Summary: A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.

Maybe I was just expecting more out of this, but a good portion of this was so slow.

I must admit, there is one reason why I really enjoyed this film. It is because it does not give us a straightforward answer for a significant portion of its runtime. Instead, it examines how people create their own stories and interpretations based on incomplete and biased information. Though it was frustrating to not get an answer, it was interesting to see this take. This has plenty of nuances and is a complete study into human behaviour when we're aware and not aware we're being watched.

A lot of the courtroom scenes were brilliant to watch as they were so intense watching these people battle each other in games of verbal tennis, desperate for the other to slip up. More and more information is revealed either to our delight or disappointment. This literally plays out the long game but in a visual format. 

There is a lot of emotional depth to this that honestly might be upsetting to people as it hits hard in some places. It's unafraid to be realistic with the people in this, flaws and all. The problem is a lot of that shown is arguments and people bitching at each other. 

Another issue I had is that this film is so damn long. Honestly, they could have cut the last 30 minutes out or shortened it down to 15. During the initial setup, I really enjoyed watching people try and figure out what could have happened through various experiments and reenactments, and a good portion of the courtroom scenes too. But after a while, I guess I ran out of patience to watch people get nowhere. Really I found it pretty boring to watch after the verdict is said.

Honestly, I think this is a really clever film that uses dialogue really well and explores really deep complex ideals, but it's just too slow. Maybe watch this while doing something else. 

6/10

"Sometimes a couple is kind of a chaos and everybody is lost. Sometimes we fight together and sometimes we fight alone, and sometimes we fight against each other, that happens."