A Private Life

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A Private Life

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1h 45m

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Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

104 Reviews

62%

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100+ Ratings

When renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner learns of the death of one of her patients she is deeply troubled. Convinced that it was murder, she decides to investigate....

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Critics Consensus

A Private Life mixes Hitchcockian suspense, glossy aesthetics, and a playful streak of camp into an entertaining if somewhat slight mystery that's held together by Jodie Foster's captivating presence.

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Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

Jan 30

3.5/4

Jodie Foster works magic like that onscreen and presents us with one of the most fully developed, certainly fascinating characters you will likely encounter this year in director/ co-screenwriter Rebecca Zlotowski’s French noirish black comedy.

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Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

Jan 29

3.5/4

A Private Life is a murder mystery only on its surface; at its heart, it’s an exploration of a lonely woman’s extremely active mind, and an unexpectedly moving story of becoming more present in one’s real life, rather than one’s imaginary one.

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Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Jan 27

3/4

In America, it might be called a mess, and at times this movie sags. But overall, there’s something about it that holds interest. “A Private Life” is an odd ramble that eventually arrives somewhere.

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Tony Medley

tonymedley.com

6h

4/10

Ballyhooed as a dark comedy with Hitchcockian overtones, I saw nothing humorous. Nor did I detect even a hint of Hitchcock. Foster gives a good performance. But I found the film slow and uninvolving.

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Chris Joyce

Movies and Munchies (YouTube)

11h

3/5

The filmmaking is beautiful, incorporating Hitchcockian camera shots, a slow-burning pace, and characters that are obscured in motive and virtue.

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M.V. Moorhead

Phoenix Magazine

2d

The story about the film, of course, is Foster, not only because she plays her role almost entirely in French... She’s also impressively bleak and emotionally constricted. It’s one of her best performances.

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Ghederick Eshmont

1d

Interesting, but not enjoyable

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Adb

1d

I was not aware that 95% of the movie was spoken in French?....the plot was unclear and I never understood who killed who. Terrible movie. Definitely a waste of time and money.

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Tom B

2d

Good, not great. Poised on the razor's edge between provocative and preposterous, it at times tips too far toward the latter.

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John B

3d

Confusing plot. Hard to understand what was going on.

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Elli65

4d

Great chemistry between Jody Foster and Auteuil. Well written script.

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jesse v

4d

This mystery desperately needed Mel Blanc to be the detective because the main character is such an unlikeable scatterbrain that never takes things with a grain of salt. Also Jodie had to unnecessarily speak English here to get it approved by Sony Classics. Also screw the director for using AI for one unnecessary scene.

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Rebecca Zlotowski

Director

Jodie Foster

Lilian Steiner

Daniel Auteuil

Gabriel Haddad

Virginie Efira

Paula Cohen-Solal

Mathieu Amalric

Simon Cohen-Solal

Vincent Lacoste

Julien Haddad-Park

A Private Life: Trailer 1

1:47

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Synopsis

When renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner learns of the death of one of her patients she is deeply troubled. Convinced that it was murder, she decides to investigate....

Director: Rebecca Zlotowski
Producer: Frédéric Jouve
Screenwriter: Rebecca Zlotowski, Anne Berest, Gaëlle Macé
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Les Films Velvet, France 3 Cinéma
Rating: R (Language|Graphic Nudity|Brief Violence|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: French
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 16, 2026, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $555.5K
Runtime: 1h 45m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)