MIFF NOTES: Things to Come (2016, Dir. Mia Hansen-Løve)

After making the French house scene look decidedly mundane in Eden, Mia Hansen-Løve goes deeper into her "life is kind of undramatic" vibe with Things To Come.

Thankfully, with undisputed master actor Isabelle Huppert in tow, she manages to sell it here in a way that wasn't previously evident. Huppert is Nathalie, a got-it-together philosophy teacher whose mother, partner, students (current and former) and publisher are all under-wing in some way or another. Her bourgeois existence is perfectly held together with a mixture of take-for-granted willpower and convenient apathy.

When things do break down, on almost every level, Nathalie takes the philosophical path. She has a private cry and gets on with shit.

Admirable. Realistic.

Undramatic.

Huppert finds the layers here, as does Hanson-Løve, whose mildly-didactic philosophy conversations, especially between Nathalie and her protégé Fabien (Roman Kolinka) lay bare the theoretical and emotional antecedents of her predicament. It is enough to keep Things To Come involving and moving. Perhaps even despite itself.

★★★☆

Trailer:

Things to Come screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival 2016.

You can check out other films from the festival here.