Two Days, One Night (2014)

January 29, 2016 5:48 PM

Sandra, a young Belgian mother, discovers that her workmates have opted for a significant pay bonus, in exchange for her dismissal. She has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job.
posted by gemutlichkeit (2 comments total)

Really great character, Sandra, both trying to recover from a depressive breakdown that lead to her leave from work, and the reality that her coworkers are essentially being paid to stab her in the back (or in her chest, as the case may be), and how difficult it is for them to say no to the money. They all deal with it in a variety of familiar responses to their own view of the crisis, varying from compassion to violence, and the realization about who is stacking the deck at work. I'm really impressed at the way the audience gets to take a step in the shoes of a dozen different characters that Sandra works with. And look at what suspense can come from drama that isn't mortal peril!
posted by Sunburnt at 9:31 PM on January 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

A really simple movie but I liked it a lot.

I guess this is my favorite Cotillard performance*. I love how her character's husband is just flat out supportive and helps her pick herself up to complete the task, which is in one way kind of an adventure, seeing the life situation of co-workers, but in another way an awful march of shit-eating shame.

Another movie would have wallowed in the drama with the husband, then cheated by skipping over some of other co-worker visits, probably toyed more with the idea that the main character would collapse.. but by making the movie around a schedule it feels more real. (And maybe, as someone who has had life-smashing mental health problems, I appreciated that they stayed in the rear view, and it seemed like a good portrayal of trying to hook back into life post-recovery.)

*My SO is ahem-ing me about Rust and Bone.
posted by nom de poop at 9:14 AM on January 30, 2016