THINGS TO COME (L’AVENIR) World Cinema

Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert) is a middle-aged philosophy professor, still deeply passionate about her career and in a seemingly happy, comfortable marriage with her husband Heinz. There are minor bouts of drama with her needy mother, but otherwise life is steady. When two quietly monumental life events happen to Nathalie in quick succession (played in the film with great understatement and a perfect lack of sensationalism), she finds herself for the first time in decades with an abundance of freedom — and all the exhilarating confusion and fear that come with it. Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve with confidence and beautiful narrative economy, THINGS TO COME is an elegant, observant portrait of one woman’s new course when the ground begins to shift beneath her. Huppert reminds us why she’s one of cinema’s greatest living performers; her portrayal of Nathalie is at once sensitive and no-nonsense, humorous and moving. — Beth Hanna