After giving an interview for her new book, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) goes to lie down and rest.  She is woken up sometime later by screams from her son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), who went out for a walk with his service dog, Snoop, in the woods near their chateau.  The boy has discovered the body of his father, Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis), lying dead in the snow in front of the house.  While Sandra is insistent that she was not involved with the fall, as the only person home at the time of the incident, the case is brought to trial to determine if Samuel’s demise was that of suicide, an accident, or murder. 

Neon adds another jewel to its Cannes Crown with their acquisition of Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, their 4th Palme d’Or-winning film in as many years.  Co-written with Arthur Harari, the French courtroom drama runs a packed 151 minutes in its search for the truth.  While it does not have an intermission, there is a very clear divide in the narrative during the investigation of the fall and a year later, the trial.  Across its runtime, secrets are revealed that do little to help the case, rather they further obscure the truth, and audiences will puzzle along with the judges and jury as to Sandra’s innocence. 

The premiere whodunit of the year takes a very interesting approach to the crime therein.  Seen only twice in flashback across the film, Theis is largely absent from the film, but Samuel’s presence is nonetheless constant across the film.  From the opening interview that is cut short due to Samuel’s intrusive music to his memory constantly being mined by both the defense and the prosecution with every recalled interaction being dissected and torn inside out to prove something that may or may not be true, there is no denying his influence over the events of the film.  Late in the film, he delivers a very poignant speech in the car to Daniel about life, death, and everything that happens in between and after.  As one of the two instances where Samuel is on screen, it is clearly an important moment in the film, but Theis does not let the special context of the scene do the heavy lifting for him.  He approaches the speech with such tender gravitas – a far cry from the violent outburst seen earlier in the film – that even though as an audience we know everything he is saying is a running parallel to a more thematic sequence, we place ourselves in Daniel’s vulnerable position feeling like a respected mentor is dispelling the secrets of life to us and being unsure of how to absorb all of this information. 

Across from him in the car is young Daniel, incredibly portrayed by the young Graner.  While the film is constantly placing Sandra under the microscope, Daniel is almost always just out of frame in the accounts of that fateful day, he and his buddy Snoop.  Daniel is a constant observer, a tough role for an actor as it is an inherently passive role, and Graner is further challenged as the major conceit of the film is that Daniel is also visually impaired, so his accounts have the major sense of sight completely removed from them.  In addition to his young age, Daniel is constantly being spoken for and his testimony, when not totally written off by the prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz), is hijacked and twisted and the conversation steered away, often leaving the boy unable to correct his record.  It is a punishing role for any actor whose character is never given the chance needed to defend themselves, so that Graner can pull off such an affecting performance is a testament not only to Trier’s guidance as a director but to his own innate ability to work in a nuanced emotional register.  

At the raging center of the searing drama, though, is Hüller’s Sandra whose every movement, every word, is deeply scrutinized in an effort to uncover the truth about her husband’s untimely demise.  What makes Anatomy of a Fall so unique in the genre is that, while Sandra’s innocence – or guilt – is the entire point upon which the narrative hinges, it is not wholly important to us as the audience.  Sure, we get invested in the drama of the situation and the heightened emotions, but the ambiguity is the point.  In this way, the film is not dissimilar to John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (2008), but instead of trying to prove a man’s guilt as the convent-drama does, Triet is trying to prove a woman’s innocence, but the trouble comes in just how unreliable a narrator Sandra proves to be, and how unsavory her actions are.  Often in the process of preparing for a role, actors crave the minute details and backstory that help color the performance even if the scenes are not explicitly in the film, but in this case, it truly seems like Triet did not give Hüller that backing knowledge so as she recounts her memories of the day, she realizes in real-time just how damning her account may sound to the judges and jury. 

Without extending the runtime to overstay its welcome, Anatomy of a Fall also has a second smaller plot line which is fascinating to watch and that is how life goes on even in the midst of a rapturous tragedy.  Without her husband to lean on, Sandra finds herself growing closer and closer to her defense attorney, Vincent (Swann Arlaud) who is not as concerned about the ethics of the situation as one would think, or at least does not outwardly show it as he allows her affections to take place.  It is a stressful situation for her, no doubt, further complicated by the addition of Marge (Jehnny Beth), a court-appointed guardian for Daniel who will make sure that the case is not discussed at home to preserve the integrity of the boy’s testimony. This situation fractures the grieving process for the family and adds new layers of tension to the film especially late in the narrative when Daniel asks to be alone with Marge the night before his testimony. What follows is an incredibly upsetting sequence with Snoop, but one that was also very delicately handled by Triet and terrifically acted by Graner. The effort did not go unnoticed as the film walked away with the coveted “Palm Dog” alternative prize in addition to its other accolades.  

Anatomy of a Fall is a surprisingly brisk film despite the heavy nature and subject matter of it all. Elevated by great performances across the board and a teeter-totter plot that constantly reframes and reevaluates Sandra’s presumed guilt or innocence, audiences will find endless joy in revisiting this case time and time again, morbid and dark as that may sound. Presented with a cascade of damning and absolving evidence, the trial may have ended but the central question remains unanswered in a fascinatingly bold and brave approach to storytelling. Despite the odds, the conclusion is far from frustrating because the thrill of the story is not so much in uncovering the truth or waiting for that smoking gun moment, but rather, it is in the pondering over the unavoidable doubt felt as the credits roll, leaving audiences asking themselves for a final time: Did she do it?