Anatomy of a Fall movie review: Sandra Hüller is a force of nature in this Oscar-nominated, compelling courtroom drama

Anatomy of a Fall review: Sandra Hüller has always been a compelling actor, one simply needs to watch her shed a solitary tear in 2016’s Toni Erdmann to witness the amount of deliberate indifference she eschews in with her presence.

The same opacity of her face is the blank canvas on which Justine Triet’s Palme D’or winning courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall rests. ( The Teacher’s Lounge movie review: Germany’s Oscar nominee is a compelling tour de force)

The premise

The actor’s impenetrable gaze is key to unlock the mystery of this compelling drama. In half of the film, she is at the trial, charged with the murder of her husband. Did she do it? The questions float in the air, and several secrets come vicariously close to corner her into some kind of submission.

But the more Anatomy of a Fall demands those inclinations, the more she stands still like a dilemma. Should we feel sorry for her? What is she hiding? This woman won’t give you easy answers.

In Anatomy of a Fall, we are first introduced to Sandra Hüller’s Sandra Voyter, who is German by birth but is now living with her with her French husband Samuel (Samuel Theis), in the French Alps. Soon, we will come to know that Sandra is a successful novelist and translator, while Samuel is a former professor struggling to write a book himself.

The couple’s only son, 10-year-old Daniel (a terrific Milo Machado Graner) is visually impaired, and also lives with them along with their dog Snoop. Daniel and Snoop go out for a walk and return to find Samuel dead outside, with a bloodied wound on his head.