A Private Life

Name: A Private Life
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: January 16, 2026
Duration: 103 min
Rating: 67

2026

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Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: January 16, 2026 | R

Summary: The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 103 min

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Critic Reviews

Chris Knight

Jan 22, 2026

You’ll have a great time following along in French director and co-writer Rebecca Zlotowski’s latest, which had its world premiere last May at the Cannes film festival. Sit back and enjoy or, as they like to say in Cannes: “Bonne séance!” Read full review

Manohla Dargis

Jan 15, 2026

The intrigue is far-fetched and surprising — this is one movie you can’t write in your head — and delivered with increasing winks and charm. Read full review

IndieWire Guilherme Jacobs

May 24, 2025

A Private Life does manage to create an interesting dynamic as it posits the need to balance psychology’s theoretics with actual results and action. Read full review

David Rooney

May 24, 2025

Caught between sophisticated comedy and silly fluff, between Hitchcockian mystery and zany amateur sleuth caper, A Private Life (Vie Privée) is a lot more fun than it probably deserves to be thanks to the disarming chemistry of its seasoned leads, Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil. Read full review

Naveen Kumar

Jan 22, 2026

It’s a mark of creative achievement that Zlotowski’s film manages to dwell in uncertainty — about what’s really going on, where Lilian’s marbles have gone and, for that matter, why her ex is so game to chase them around with her. Still, there’s something less than satisfying about a story that’s peculiar but not exactly funny, low-key unsettling but far from provocative, and elbow-deep in dreams and memory but without much discernible revelation. Read full review

David Robb

Dec 9, 2025

The film’s brisk pace does partly compensate for the essential banality of the central investigation. Read full review

The Playlist Rafaela Sales Ross

May 24, 2025

Whenever it leans into these poignant metaphors to ask questions of guilt and duty, A Private Life grasps at something real and raw. It’s a shame Zlotowski so willingly refuses to take her finger off that pulse, even if the result remains a pleasurable ride. Read full review

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