A Private Life (Vie privée, 2025) 'BFI London Film Festival' Movie Review: Foster’s French Mystery is Utterly Charming

Jodie Foster showcases her bilingual skills in Rebecca Zlotowski’s charming and joyful crime mystery, “A Private Life” (Original title: Vie privée, 2025), which beautifully captures the Parisian setting. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) is an American psychiatrist working in Paris. She has a strained relationship with her son, Julien (Vincent Lacoste), who has a child of his own that Lilian feels uncomfortable engaging with. When one of her long-term patients, Paula (Virginie Efira), kills herself, Paula’s daughter, Valérie (Luana Bajrami), invites her to the funeral. Upon arrival, Paula’s husband, Simon (Mathieu Amalric), ejects her, blaming her for the suicide.

Lilian does not believe that Paula killed herself and, suspecting foul play, begins her own covert investigation with the help of her ex-husband, Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), an optometrist. Uncertain whether it was her husband or her daughter, Lilian investigates all possibilities to gather the information she needs, including stalking, theft, and hypnosis.

Foster is one of the greatest actors of her generation. She is also at a stage in her career where she can be selective about the roles she chooses, as shown by her total of four feature films and one TV mini-series in the past 10 years. It’s understandable that, after winning two Oscars and starring in some of cinema’s most iconic films, Foster might prefer only to accept roles that genuinely appeal to her. 2023’s “Nyad” showcased her communication skills, earning her a fifth Oscar nomination. Not many can resist the lure of leading a “True Detective” season, regardless of its quality, and there is no doubt that with “A Private Life,” utilizing her fluent French and the Parisian-set crime caper, she would find one of the most enticing roles she’s had in decades.

Foster takes control of this murder mystery and runs with it. The character of Lilian Steiner is very well-developed, with the stoic demeanour a psychiatrist must have when listening to the sometimes mundane, sometimes horrific things her patients tell her. She’s old-school, using MiniDisc drives to record all of her patients’ issues so she can listen back to them later, not realizing that this hinders her from truly listening or being present in the moment when receiving this information from her patients.

The film’s highlight is the relationships Lilian shares with the other characters. She is often blunt and direct, which causes friction with those around her, but when she is with her husband, Gabriel, the film becomes hilarious. This is partly due to a fantastic performance from Auteuil, who perfectly balances caring and stupidity to elevate their relationship. Gabriel supports her insane endeavour to prove the murder of Paula, despite all of the evidence that points to the contrary. It is through Gabriel that the film’s tone is lifted from something that could take itself a little too seriously to a narrative filled with both joy and intrigue.

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A Private Life (2025) — A still from A Private Life (Vie privée, 2025)

One might argue that the film treads too close to the mystical elements of the narrative, with a significant portion of the side plot focused on past lives. Through hypnotism, Lilian discovers that she was in love with Paula in a previous life, with Simon murdering Paula because of their love, and Julien, a member of the secret police, orchestrating it. Lilian appears to believe this wholeheartedly, as she confides in Julien that this must be the cause of the tension between them. While the supernatural aspect of the plot works to some extent, the film would have been stronger without it. The story is already engaging and intriguing enough without introducing this additional genre element.

The Parisian location is utterly stunning, featuring some of the most captivating spiral staircase shots seen in cinema this year. All the apartments appear beautiful and luxurious, especially Lillian’s, which showcases a designer’s eye for detail and perfectly matches the fashionable character living there. Authentic Parisian locations are used effectively, such as a restaurant where Lillian knew Gabriel would be, and the library where she steals vital information. All of this combines to create a film that feels genuinely Parisian, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The narrative raises intriguing questions about whether a psychiatrist can truly know their patient, or if the patient is merely crafting the person they wish to be, or the person the psychiatrist expects. You might think you’d recognise someone after years of being their therapist, but they can only reveal as much as they are willing to share. It’s a unique perspective, and one that feels fresh amidst the whodunnit plot woven throughout the 103 minutes.

Overall, Rebecca Zlotowski creates an enthralling narrative that, despite the initial derision from the Cannes audience, is an absolute blast from start to finish. The best Foster performance in decades, she feels like she is finally enjoying the craft of acting again in this whodunnit that keeps the audience guessing from one minute to the next. The only improvements that could be made would be for the script to focus more on the crime and less on the mysticism.