Purposefully ambiguous, well acted and well written. Anatomy of a Fall evolves heavily over the course of the 150 minute runtime from a slice-of-life introduction to the household to inter-family drama to a murder mystery to a courtroom drama that freely switches between English, French, and German. The chemistry between Sandra and the interviewer contrasted with the overbearing presence of Samuel off screen through 50 Cent's PIMP playing at deafening levels manages to create both tension and duality, conflict lurks unseen in this house and just off-stage.

Samuel's shadow is necessarily over every frame of the film. The home is empty and quiet after his passing whereas every retelling of memory of Samuel is loud from the music to the shouting to the fighting with thrown glass and recriminations. Samuel is everywhere from the first frame until Sandra's fate is sealed, where his presence relents and she is alone. The purposefully long courtroom scenes that give the viewer a feeling of what it is like to just sit interminably while Sandra's life is decided, it fits with the evolution of the film. Both lawyers (prosecutor and defense) are very good actors who carry half the show, maybe more, with tightly written dialogue and logic.

Justine Triet has accomplished something fantastic by managing to keep viewers engaged through what is fundamentally an argument between two lawyers twisting facts to suit their own narrative in a way that invites the viewer to join the jury and think. What would you would decide, who would you believe, how would you interpret the facts.. or lack of facts? There is no conclusion, Sandra even states this at the end "it's just over". The viewer applies their own logic and reasons, but ultimately that does not matter.

We are left wondering about Sandra's feelings for Vincent (Swann Arlaud, her lawyer) to whom she put her life into his hands. The french legal system cannot be real, yet we are assured by others that it does work this way, truly eye opening with regards to liberté, égalité, fraternité. This is not the best picture of the year, but it was a good film. Sandra Huller as the protagonist is fantastic, as is most of the cast including Milo Machado Graner as Daniel.