Two Days, One Night

"The Cannes Film Festival loves the Dardenne brothers and their brand of reality-sharpened drama, though that love is not always shared amongst us “regular” movie-lovers (don’t get me started on The Kid with a Bike). But with the superhuman acting powers of Marion Cotillard, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have cast a wider net of appeal, crafting a working-class tale that’s as straightforward as a fired bullet with an exit wound the size of a grapefruit."

"The Dardenne brothers take on a movie star and lose none of their beautifully observed verisimilitude in another powerhouse slice of working-class Belgian life."

"It draws us into the debate, makes us complicit, demands that we have an opinion, and then upends that same opinion a few minutes later. It's engaging and rousing."

"Nothing all that new, perhaps, but thoughtful, humane and superbly composed..."

"A tense dramatic situation and a subtly magnificent central performance from Marion Cotillard add up to an outstanding new movie from the Dardenne brothers."

"A powerful, finely scripted issue movie, made all the more incisive by Marion Cotillard's raw performance as a woman fighting to save her job while suffering from depression."

"Specialists in unvarnished intimacy, the Dardenne brothers add another clear-eyed contemplation of stark social reality to their impressive output."

"It's a rare film of unforced simplicity that will stick with you for a long time. And it's honest right to its perfectly judged ending."