Jodie Foster lends her considerable star power to this already star-laden French mystery thriller. Her accent is as flawless as her performance.

Foster plays Liliane, an American – though Parisian by choice – a psychiatrist working from her own chic apartment. From the outset, we get the impression her heart is not really in the job anymore. She records every session, but is that for archival purposes or because she isn’t really listening?

Jodie Foster as Liliane in the film A Private Life

The story lurches into motion when Liliane is informed that one of her longtime clients, Paula (Virginie Efira), who lives in an apartment upstairs, has taken her own life. Rattled by the thought that she somehow failed to pick up on Paula’s distress and convinced that Paula’s hot-tempered husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric) is somehow involved, Liliane embarks on a clumsy investigation, aided by her optometrist ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), who seizes on the opportunity to rekindle their relationship.

In order to solve the mystery, Liliane has to go deeper than your typical Nancy Drew. Key information, it appears, lies in her own subconscious, in her repressed dreams...