Review #904: 'Two Days, One Night' (2014)

Two time Palme d'Or winners and brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have had an almost overwhelming critical success with their back catalogue, scooping up enough awards to fill their living room and receiving enough nominations to make them major players in European cinema. Their films tend to focus on the everyday struggles of existence, telling low-key stories against the backdrop of their native Belgium, making some kind of sociological or political commentary at the same time. Yet despite their success, the Dardenne's have remained in the shadows without the seemingly inevitable emigration to Hollywood. Although they have finally bagged an A-lister in Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night is much of the same, a simple yet heart-wrenching tale that paints a picture of life in our economically unbalanced times.

Young mother Sandra (Cotillard) is preparing to re-enter the workplace after battling with depression following an unspoken trauma, when she receives a phone call from her boss who informs her that her workmates have voted to receive their bonus, rather than Sandra being allowed to keep her job. Along with a friend, Sandra convinces her boss to have another vote when she suspects that her colleague may have been influenced, and along with her devoted husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), must spend the weekend trying to convince her sixteen co-workers that they should forgo their promised bonus so she can go on supporting her family.

This is undoubtedly Cotillard's film. Despite her superstar status and unworldly beauty, her portrayal of a depressive is entirely convincing. Constantly popping pills, she begins the film in bed, lacking the motivation to even answer her phone. Her most human moment comes in the scene where she turns up the car radio and sings along, much to Manu's surprise and delight as he savours this brief moment of elation. It's a scene that could have seemed like something from a Hollywood rom-com, but thanks to Cotillard's performance and the Dardennes unfussy direction, it manages to deliver an emotional wallop. As Sandra drags herself from one worker to the next, the film becomes slightly repetitive, but achieves feelings of discomfort and sadness in the viewer as we witness Sandra's dignity slipping away. Slightly depressing but oddly optimistic, Two Days, One Night packs an emotional punch and will leave you questioning how Cotillard didn't run away with the Oscar.


Directed by: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Starring; Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée, Batiste Sornin
Country: Belgium/France/Italy

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie