Two Days, One Night
Written and Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Starring Marion Cotillard, Fabrizo Rongione

The plot is simple. A woman loses her job when her fellow employees are persuaded they will not get their bonus unless a job is eliminated and she is the suggested sacrificial lamb. Complicating this situation is her recent bout of hospitalization for depression.

A friend and co-worker persuades their manager to retake the vote on Monday morning. Cotillard has two days and one night to persuade a majority of workers to vote to lose their bonus in favor of her retention.

With her husband hovering nearby, she goes to one house after another to attempt to accomplish this. In some cases the attempt is completely futile, even dangerous; with others it is easy. Each encounter is somewhat different. If this sounds tedious, it is not. Cotillard is so completely persuasive as this woman and you will hold your breath to see if she succeeds. She has shed every sign of glamour to play this desperate and sad working class woman. And the twist at the end is brilliant.

Highly recommended.

Patti Abbott