Anatomy of a Fall (2023) - 9/10
Its a film you cant really speak on because everything is a spoiler. Its a court drama that is actively ambiguous and challanges the nature of assumption itself and never at any point shows its hand and never gives the audience answers.
This is deliberate because the film isnt about what happened. Its about how we struggle with what we dont know and how we add to our unknowing until we can have a reality we can live with.
It centers around a death that occurs off camera, a fall, and the court case to decide if it was an accident or murder.
What it does do is deliver the strongest acting performances of last year inside a smart and intriguing script.
I think Past Lives was the best picture of 2023 and this doesnt change that but its easily no2.
As far as speculation goes the film offers 4 scenarios.
1. The mother killed the father
2. The father slipped
3. The father jumped
4. The father jumped and tried to frame the mother
I propose that he slipped. The film begins with the dog snoop chasing his ball down the stairs. The son daniel is drawing a bath for snoop. This leaves me to believe the father is the one who is playing ball with the dog. Its my take that he slipped on the ball which then rolled away from the scene.