Happening (L’événement)

"In a part that asks a lot of her, Vartolomei masters the art of silence, somehow managing to react, consider and protest, often without saying a single word."

"Throughout, Diwan’s gaze remains clear, direct, fearless. She shows you a part of life that the movies rarely do."

"Happening is a realist thriller that morphs, sans sentimentality or platitudes, into a quietly affecting portrait of female solidarity."

"Vartolomei makes every moment comprehensible. It’s a beautifully judged performance."

"The no-holds-barred approach to the procedure and its aftermath is the kind of interpretation of real life that great cinema does best..."

"Even as the camera closely follows her movements... it sometimes feels like Diwan’s keeping our heroine at an emotional arm’s length."

"There’s a slight lack of dramatic tension in much of the lead-up to its harrowing finale..."

"Often a tough watch, compassionate but brutally honest, and almost breathless in its chronicle of a struggle that has obviously stayed with the author for decades."

"Plays its private trauma as a harrowing thriller, and showcases a superb performance from Anamaria Vartolomei as Anne Duchesne, the agonised student in the spotlight."

"Filmed and performed in such a delicate, skin-soft register, meanwhile, that the escalating terror of Anne’s situation is all the more pronounced, eventually pivoting into a realm of wholly realism-based body horror."