Ageing Calais construction magnate Georges Laurent (Jean-Louis Trintignant) has passed the reins of the family business to daughter Anne (Isabelle Huppert). However, a series of increasingly sinister events conspire to unravel the wealthy clan’s cosseted existence. A coolly observed study of familial dysfunction, Haneke’s follow-up (and, given the reappearance of Georges Laurent, in some respects sequel) to Amour has all the stylistic traits we have come to expect from this master filmmaker: the cut-glass precision, scenes shot to resemble static surveillance footage, and significant action taking place in the margins of long shots. Thematically, the film revisits Haneke’s concerns with bourgeois complacency and guilt, racial prejudice, and our changing relationship to technology. Moments of comedy introduce a surprising and welcome new element to the director’s winning formula.

Notes by David O’Mahony.

Screening as part of Complicit: The Films of Michael Haneke.