Alles was kommt

Things to Come

Nathalie is in her late fifties. A philosophy teacher at a Parisian grammar school, she loves her job. She also publishes her writing with a small publishing house. Her husband is a university lecturer. Their grown-up children love spending time in their middle-class intellectual home, as do their students. So far, Nathalie has not given much thought to the future in her busy routine – but then an accumulation of unexpected events changes everything. Confronted with sudden freedom, which nonetheless brings loneliness, Nathalie is obliged to reinvent both herself and her life. Mia Hansen-Løve's fifth feature marks a departure from the topic of youth; instead she has chosen to explore the onset of age in a powerful yet also ironic portrait of a woman. The film revolves around questions of happiness, of having a vocation and the value or folly of established ways of living. It depicts not only one individual's search for new avenues, it also asks if – and to what extent – philosophy can be applied to our everyday life.

Source: 66. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)