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There is nothing uncommon about suspicion of the spouse when a married person dies. Everyone has seen enough police and courtroom dramas to know your go to suspect is often right when unveiling the curtains of someone’s marriage. In lesser films than Justine Triet’s ANATOMY OF A FALL the spouse is revealed to be the killer in a grand confession usually attached to jealousy or infidelity. But what happens when marriage itself is the killer and the exact details of the possible murder is simply just a means to an end for a satisfied jury. ANATOMY OF A FALL (coming of its prestigious Palme d’Or win at Cannes) not only proves that the courtroom drama is very much still alive, but it is also another masterful example of Triet’s ability to have female leads display a balance of both self-destruction and the prejudice of the eyes watching and dissecting their every move. A claustrophobic and gut churning dissection of marriage ANATOMY OF A FALL is not just one of the best films of the year, but one that leaves you with such distrust and confusion that any married person will be staring at their partner on the drive home pondering their next move.

Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) is just trying to be interviewed by a student. Comfortable and laid back with a glass of wine, Sandra answers every question as every acclaimed writer does. Veering off topic and avoiding exact answers. However this quiet and somewhat intimate interview with her female student continuously gets interrupted through the loud noises of music coming from upstairs, the song in question being an instrumental version of 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P. And while the usage of the hip hop song is a humorous momentary joke it is remarkable how Triet will eventually expand the “Get Rich or Die Trying” song to be the basis of issues we will soon encounter. But before that can even come into play Sandra’s interviewer just wants the song to stop. The culprit for this disturbance? Sandra’s husband Samuel (Samuel Maleski) who she claims is working upstairs while their son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) plays with the family dog Snoop. Triet sets us up with as little answers as Sandra gives to her student and as we get closer to pulling back the curtain things are interrupted and the scenery is changed. A smart and practical choice for a film full of questionable movements. And while the interview ends short it isn’t long until Daniel, who we learn is blind) discovers cold dead body made colder by the piles of snow where his body landed. The film doesn’t even have to lead us to any suspicion the audience’s mind is already running circles asking every question. Was he pushed? Did he jump? Was it an accident? And where was Sandra in all of this? Triet knows her film will eventually put Sandra through the ringer but she allows her audience to begin the trial in their minds long before a judge ever steps on screen.

If someone wants to prove their innocence then they must be willing to share every detail and allow those details to be further examined, and that is precisely how the film ANATOMY OF A FALL becomes. But through its two and a half hour runtime Triet leaves no minute wasted. Sandra wastes no time calling her old friend Vincent (Swann Arlaud) who is a lawyer that comes in needing to do his own personal examination of Sandra and when his own belief of her innocence comes about has no problem resorting back to childhood friends who may or may not have been lovers. But one thing is certain, Vincent loves Sandra allowing for scenes that should for a romantic kindling of two friends, but instead leaves you uncomfortable knowing Sandra can be flirting days after her husband’s death. And while the film finds its second half dedicated to the days in court audience members may already feel they have decided their judgements on Sandra which makes it all the more compelling when the prosecution and judger herself seems determined to bring a guilty verdict upon Sandra. If one is unfamiliar with the French court system (as this critic was) the scenes become a fish out of water experience that is both compelling as well as a riot. The case may be serious, but Triet has some fun throughout the trial making the Avocat general (lead prosecutor played deviously by Antoine Reinartz) intuitive and cut throating making Sandra look not just guilty but completely unprepared and lost for words, not a great feat for an author. The general may be channeling his own Inglorious Basterd’s Hans Landa, the script by Triet and Arthur Harari know how to utilize the talents of Sandra Hüller. Hüller can’t be described as anything less than masterful for this film. While cross talking may not be accepted in American courts (although that has stopped nobody before) in the French courts it seems to be welcomed as watching Sandra rebuke “facts” from the prosecution as well as question the purpose of many of the statements from both her late husband’s therapist and a blood splatter expert. On top of that Triet and her cinematographer Simon Beaufils chose some truly inspiring camera work in constantly swaying the camera to change perspectives of everyone on screen. In a year where Christopher Nolan used color palettes to change from perspective to objective in “Oppenheimer” Triet goes even further forcing a whiplash on us to keep up with whose eyes we are looing through and if anyone can actually see the truth. All this allows Hüller as a performer to have the upper hand one moment while quickly being stripped away as she must confess to further left out details that the media, seeing a celebrity on trial, eats up forcing yet another narrative.

Even when it seems like ANATOMY may find itself geared to solving its main mystery, Triet reminds us that the answers are not the full ending we deserve. The film when not in the court room brings us back to the idea that there is still a family at the center of this story. Milo Machado Graner as Daniel (and of course Snoop the dog) may be the breakout star of the year. A young boy who not only lost his father, but paraded in a court case that feels less like a murder trial for him than a divorce where Daniel must choose a side. The courts attempt to protect Daniel by giving him a caretaker who prohibits Sandra from speaking to her son in any other language except French. You see it best through Daniel and even Snoop that while they may have not seen the incident themselves they hold the key to what kind of marriage Sandra and Samuel truly had. There is both a dark comedy and tragedy (although basically the same thing) that the family dog Snoop cannot be put on trial himself. There is a reason Snoop (whose real name is Messi) won the adorable but highly coveted Palme Dog Award at this year’s Cannes film festival. Snoop is not just the keeper of all secrets, but his behavior and protection of Daniel is not just as a seeing eye dog, but one that knows who in the house can cause him or anyone harm. Any pet owner will be watching Snoop for clues throughout. Sandra may be able to tell her son she is not a monster but only those who can’t communicate fully know the truth. ANATOMY OF A FALL may not give you every answer one expects from a trial film, but that never seemed to be the goal. Instead here is a film that thrives in our doubt as much as it does the disturbance of what a marriage can be and is for many couples. A marriage where “falling” to your death is the least of your concerns. And while Sandra’s every movement and detail of her marriage appears to be put on trial it is amazing that Triet still leaves us feeling like Sandra was able to leave so much still buried deep in the snow never to be thawed out.

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ANATOMY OF A FALL SCREENED AT THE 2023 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS OCTOBER 13 FROM NEON STUDIOS