In Bed with Victoria (2016)

You may have seen Virginie Efira in 2022's Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven’s latest, of which I’ve spoken about a lot. She proves once again here what a superb actress she is, playing a Parisian lawyer who seems to be constantly wrapped up in her own life, both personal and professional, seemingly at the expense of her relationship with her two daughters. After a wedding party that kicks the film off, we see a woman who has seemingly been stabbed; we immediately learn that the woman is the seemingly unstable spouse of Victoria’s former lover and long time friend Vincent, and Vincent is footing the blame for the violent act. He pleads with Victoria to take his case and prevent him going to jail, and this leads Victoria’s already fairly obvious depression to deepen further. At the same wedding party she meets an old drug dealing client, Sam, and this chance encounter leads to a budding relationship, the extent of which is difficult to suss for the majority of this quite excellent film. Victoria is both sympathetic and infuriating, hugely down to the nuance and complete believability of Efira’s performance. The performances across the board are excellent, and the interweaving narrative keep the film gripping the entire way through, and you have no idea how the threads will end; whether it ends in disaster, happiness, or neither for Victoria. This was the first of Justine Triet’s films that I’ve seen, and on this form I will be checking out the rest of her back catalogue as soon as possible. 8.0/10