A Good Little Soldier

Known for his portraits of individuals struggling against capitalism in films such as At War (2018) and The Measure of a Man (2015), Stéphane Brizé continues the tradition of French social realism with a story set within the skyscrapers and glass offices of the corporate world. Carla (Alba Rohrwacher, also at the Festival with A Common Story) is a high-powered executive in Human Resources with a successful career, having risen the ranks in the private sector by trading time at home with her son for long nights at work. Just recruited to a new position, she’s tasked by her demanding boss Arnaud (Vincent Lindon, Couture, TIFF ’25) with the responsibility of reconciling performance goals and employee well-being with a strategic campaign.

Brizé’s 11th feature expands upon the management side of labour, a perspective he first explored in Another World (2021). He captures how the corporate milieu has distorted policies of inclusion and subverted concepts like safe spaces to protect those already at the top of the hierarchy from discomfort or change. Faced with conflicting directives and the prospect of defending badly behaved high performers, Carla is pushed to assess her own humanity and that of her colleagues. With searing performances from returning collaborators Rohrwacher and Lindon, the film exposes the alienating, dehumanizing consequences of capitalist structures. 

ROBYN CITIZEN

Content advisory: mature themes