Mia Hansen-Løve’s poignant drama stood out for Isabelle Huppert’s exquisite portrait of a fifty-something woman who takes on mid-life misdirection with admirable composure after a succession of hurtful losses tamper with a lifetime’s worth of self-assurance.

Passionate about her job, Nathalie (Huppert) teaches philosophy at a Parisian high school where she particularly enjoys passing on the pleasure of thinking to her young students. Married with two grownup children, she devotes her spare time to the books she publishes as a sideline, former students who have become friends, and to her very possessive mother (Édith Scob). But when Nathalie’s husband of 25 years Heinz (André Marcon) announces he is leaving her for another woman, it's the first of a series of events that will quietly upend her world. As new freedoms are unexpectedly thrust upon her she seeks unlikely companionship in a former student and radical young communist as she finds herself having to completely reassess her future.

Revolving around questions of happiness, the meaning of vocation, the value or folly of established ways of living, and the worth of our expectations, this exceptional film confirmed Hansen-Løve’s standing as one of France’s most naturally gifted filmmakers. Thanks in no small part to the strength of Huppert’s subtly emotive central performance which sees her seek solace and security in her books and her ideas – and, ultimately, herself.

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