Two Days, One Night (2014)
I thought the premise of this was somewhat constructed and was hoping it used it for something more surprising. Sadly, the movie did just go through the very predictable motions. I am sure it has happened in the real world, but having a group of workers vote on whether to get a bonus or have a named coworker fired, is just too much “on the nose” in order for this type of plot to get going. Most businesses would just avoid all that drama and deal with the layoffs.
Watching this I was hoping for something new to happen or some addition to the repetitive narrative, but it doesn’t really do much more than have her have basically the same sort of conversations getting similar answers from her co-workers. Yes of course the point is the small differences and especially how Sandra deals with this turmoil during these days, and I have nothing but praise for Marion Cotillard’s performance here.
Maybe I am too privileged to relate to her situation, but the Dardenne brothers managed to do it way better with Rosetta, because that went more than surface level deep into how unfair life can treat you. This is just a slice of life that depicts a shitty situation, but it doesn’t do anything more than that for me.
Rating: 2.5