Between Two Worlds

Showtimes September 8 - 14:

When Marianne (Juliette Binoche) arrives at an unemployment center at the start of the film, she’s sheepish and bewildered, selling herself as a “team player” to secure a minimum wage gig. In a voiceover, the details of her quest for steady work are articulated in a matter-of-fact tone. Subtly, director Emmanuel Carrère reveals the film’s real stakes: Marianne, an investigative journalist, has gone undercover to learn firsthand how low-income workers are exploited.

Landing a job as a cleaner on the cross-channel ferry, she learns how to change bedding, clean bathrooms, and turn around a room at a stunning pace. The longer she works, the more she develops connections with her co-workers, many of whom live with extremely limited resources and income opportunities. As the film progresses, her difference from the other women begins to rear its head, and the reality of posing as someone poorer than oneself begins to appear less than ethical. With a brilliant performance from Binoche at its center, Between Two Worlds is a thoughtful examination of the close bonds that can form between two people and the limits of what those friendships can withstand.

(France / 2021 / Directed by Emmanuel Carrère)
Unrated / 1 hr 47 mins
In French with subtitles