Jodie Foster has long been fluent in French, and has dabbled in French-speaking roles in the past. But she takes on her first full French-language lead in A Private Life, a film noir black comedy from director Rebecca Zlotowski that Sony Pictures Classics will release this week for awards qualifying.
Foster stars as renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner, who becomes fixated on the sudden death of one of her patients, believing it to be murder. She decides to investigate, only to find that the answers could reveal more about her own psyche.
Also in the cast are Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste, and Luana Bajrami.
A Private Life premiered at Cannes in May, receiving a 10-minute standing ovation. Zlotowski is known for the acclaimed films Grand Central, Planetarium, and Other People’s Children.
Sony Pictures Classics opens A Private Life for a one-week run beginning December 5th, before expanding nationwide on January 16th 2026.
