Directed by Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall is about a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband’s death. The only other witness there is the couple’s visually impaired son. The film grabbed my attention when it won the Palme d’Or. Not that it is expected for any winner to be a perfect masterpiece to me, but it tells me that the film is extremely important to watch. The time finally came for me to watch it this weekend at my closest movie theater. I was initially worried due to the runtime, because I didn’t want to be disappointed. Between Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, and now this, I don’t think I should be as worried going forward. It seems like long dramas are back and I am here for it.

I am going to do my best to explain how the movie starts while also being vague to avoid any spoilers. I was aware of one specific aspect that occurs in the beginning of this, and I truly wished I didn’t know. It’s essentially a rendition of a popular song from about 20 years ago. It more or less sets the tone for what’s to come. Keep that in mind going into this, because I found it to be extremely unique for how it plays into the overall plot.

Lead actress Sandra Hüller plays her role with conviction as the woman that has been indicted for the suspicion of murdering her husband. Her son, played by a tremendous performance from Milo Machado-Graner, is extremely mature and has to be for good reason. Since he is visually impaired, he has to rely on his memory, making him extremely intelligent. These two performances will surely get attention around awards season, but I want to highlight that there is not a single bad or average performance here. It is like the director took their time with every single actor to ensure they kept the tension going through the script to make its runtime justifiable.

The script is quite extraordinary. A couple of years ago, I read a book about scriptwriting techniques. In that book, Kramer vs. Kramer & Chinatown was mentioned quite a bit and for good reason. Those are some great examples of how to make a script work. I thought a lot about this book after seeing this film, because this also feels like a great example of understanding scriptwriting. Due to how natural the dialogue was, it kept every moment going. The courtroom scenes were very engaging and made it feel like no time had passed. The dialogue is also an important piece to the overall plot. The main character is fluent in different languages, but sometimes has to rely on English over her French due to her comfortability. Not only does this make her feel like a real & complex character, but it makes you question if she did it or not as she flip flops through the different languages.

One key aspect that I really appreciated here is how the characters and their backgrounds naturally unfold throughout. There’s no dialogue in the beginning that feels out of place just because the filmmaker wants us to know who these characters are immediately. Aside from the dialogue, the way the plot unfolds keeps the viewer continuously guessing what happens next as new information comes in. The editing plays an important part in this as it has to cut back to moments from certain perspectives, once again, making you question whether the main character did it or not.

Overall, Anatomy of a Fall is a flawless masterpiece that deserves the praise it is getting. It does things that I have truly never seen before. There is also not a single bad or average performance. The script feels extremely realistic and allows the film to naturally tell the story. Keep an eye for those in front and behind the camera, because they are well on their way to big things.

VERDICT: Perfect