Anatomy of a Fall (2024)  ★★★★

SAVE some time and money and give the Oscar to Sandra Hüller now.

The German actress is quite simply brilliant as the protagonist, Sandra Voyter, in the French drama/thriller Anatomy of a Fall.

Granted, the words that Hüller has at her disposal are wonderful, courtesy of the razor-sharp script by director Justine Triet and her co-writer Arthur Harari, but the success of the film also lies absolutely with giving an authentic central performance.

As a woman accused of murdering her husband, a crime we do not see, Voyter needs to gather sympathy while also raising doubt and Hüller achieves this throughout the film.

Her character is tough and uncompromising in professing her guilt, but also mysterious and bewildering in acknowledging that she and her late husband had many problems that could be construed in different ways.

Milo Machado Graner is also excellent as her young son Daniel, who becomes a key witness in the case as the only other person living in the house when Samuel died. As the father, Samuel Theis, is also a strong presence in key flashback scenes.

Triet’s film succeeds on every level, as a thriller, courtroom drama, police procedural and relationship drama with the expertly devised and meticulously written script slowly allowing the audience to taken through a maze of conflicting opinions and contradictions, further fashioned and distorted by human nature.

It’s a mesmerising film that showcases everything great about French cinema.

Watched outdoors at Somerville Auditorium as part of the annual Perth International Film Festival.