Two Days, One Night
Release date: 2014-05-21
Votes: 955
Genres: Drama
Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job — not an easy task in this economy.
Reviews
r96sk
Definitely good, though only thanks to Marion Cotillard's excellent performance. The premise is intriguing and features some emotional scenes, there's one with Timur (Timur Magomedgadzhiev) that particularly hit me in the feels out of nowhere; it's not even the most gut-wrenching part of the film, yet it made me feel something the most. The camera work et al. isn't all that great, the dialogue is especially underwhelming. Perhaps I was noticing it more due to viewing with subtitles, but there's a lot of moments where we see Sandra (Cotillard) retrace the same steps with each individual - it gets repetitive. Cotillard, though, is top notch. She brings so much emotion and realness with her, nailing every single scene to deserve notable props. Away from the Parisian, there aren't any others to note; they are all fine but I would've loved a more meaty cast. I'd be rating it a level lower if it wasn't for the lead, who is easily the best thing to come out of <em>'Two Days, One Night'</em>.
CinemaSerf
I really wasn't sure of the premiss at first here, but a strong effort from a Marion Cotillard-led cast of natural acting talent does actually bring it off well. We learn that there's been a sort of a referendum at her workplace where the boss has given them a choice. The staff can keep their €1,000 bonus or they can forgo that and "Sandra" gets to keep her job. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she's lost that ballot but when she discovers that one of her colleagues was briefing against her and doing some scaremongering, she manages to get "Dumont" (Baptiste Sornin) to agree to allow another vote. Now she, and her husband "Manu" (Fabrizio Rongione) have to embark on some whistle-stop diplomacy as she must try to convince her workmates that she is a price worth paying. This film is told very much from her perspective, so we are aware of just how strenuous this is for her and her family. She needs the work - for the money, yes, but also for her sanity. The others, however, well we only really encounter them in brief soundbite form as she tries to pitch to them. We don't really learn about their own predicaments nor are we really given much understanding of just how crucial this sum of money might be to them and their own families. It's that developing scenario that didn't quite work for me here, but there's no denying the almost visceral effort delivered by Cotillard as an increasingly frustrated "Sandra" who finds herself more and more emotionally drained as the weekend takes it's toll on everyone. The writing and the direction are potent and taut and it does invite us to ask what we might do in similar circumstances as colleagues or as one struggling with the psychology this dilemma poses.
Movie Recommendation
Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration1993-03-02On October 16, 1992, an impressive and eclectic group of artists gathered at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the purpose of celebrating the music of Bob Dylan on the occasion of his 30th anniversary of recording. Bringing together musical greats as far-flung as Johnny Cash and Eddie Vedder, The Clancy Brothers and Lou Reed, the four-hour show celebrated a truly remarkable lifetime of songs in front of a sold-out audience of over 18,000. Warmly dubbed the Bobfest by participant Neil Young, the show was broadcast around the world and featured a cast of musical notables performing carefully chosen and often surprising selections from the incomparable Dylan songbook. At evening's end, the man of honor himself appeared on stage and gracefully brought it all back home again. In a world where all-star celebrity gatherings have become commonplace, the Bob Dylan celebration stood out as, first and foremost, a legitimately memorable musical event.More...
The Ladies Get Their Say2009-03-06Every Thursday a group of ladies would gather to play cards and discuss their loves, lives and children while their daughters played in the next room. Thirty years later, the daughters meet at a funeral for one of the mothers. Like their mothers, they discuss their hopes, dreams and fears.More...
Virunga2014-11-07Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa’s oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the land. Among this ongoing power struggle, Virunga also happens to be the last natural habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The only thing standing in the way of the forces closing in around the gorillas: a handful of passionate park rangers and journalists fighting to secure the park’s borders and expose the corruption of its enemies. Filled with shocking footage, and anchored by the surprisingly deep and gentle characters of the gorillas themselves, Virunga is a galvanizing call to action around an ongoing political and environmental crisis in the Congo.More...
Bird People2014-06-04An overstressed American businessman and a French chambermaid make a connection at an airport hotel in Paris.More...
Marius and Jeannette1997-11-19Jeannette is a single mother living in a working-class community in Marseilles; she tries to support herself and her two kids on her salary as a check-out girl at a supermarket and lives in an apartment complex where everyone is thrown into close proximity with everyone else. Marius is working as a security guard at a cement factory that has gone out of business; he's also squatting in the building, since the plant is soon to be demolished and he'll be needing his money later on. One day, Jeannette happens by the factory, and spotting several cans of paint, tries to take two of them home with her. Marius spots her and tries to chase her away, while she rails at him with curses against the capitalist system. The next day, an apologetic Marius appears at her doorstep, cans of paint in hand; the two soon become friendly, and a romance begins to bloom, though it quickly becomes obvious that Jeannette's romance novel fantasies are a bit off the mark from what Marius has in mind.More...
The Union: The Business Behind Getting High2007-05-08Filmmaker Adam Scorgie explores the illegal marijuana industry in British Columbia, revealing how the international business is most likely more profitable than it would be if it was lawful in this enlightening documentary. Marijuana growers, law enforcement officials, physicians, politicians, criminologists, economists and celebrities—including comedian Tommy Chong—shed light on this topical subject in a series of compelling interviews.More...
Dancing Arabs2014-07-10A young Arab is caught between cultures as he is sent to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Israel in the 1980s.More...
Paul Sanchez Is Back!2018-07-18The reappearance of notorious criminal Paul Sanchez becomes an obsession for a young police officer who will do anything to catch him.More...
One Starry Christmas2014-11-01An aspiring astronomy professor finds unexpected Christmas romance when she meets a charming cowboy during her holiday travel. As she decides between this new cowboy and her practical boyfriend, she must decide whether it's better to play it safe in love, or let an adventurous cowboy steal her heart.More...
Stanley Ka Dabba2011-05-13School boy Stanley does not carry lunch, which is noticed by a teacher who forces kids to share their food with him. He soon warns Stanley that he must get a lunch box if he wants to attend school.More...
Suzaku1997-11-01Depicts the life of a family in a remote Japanese timber village. Family head Tahara Kozo lives with his mother Sachiko, wife Yasuyo, nephew Eisuke and young daughter Michiru. Economic recession and failed development plans cause tragedy in the family.More...
Piccola posta1955-12-22Polish countess Lady Eva is the authoritative signature of the correspondence of an Italian women's magazine; behind the fascinating name hides a Roman girl whose advice will create a series of tangled and comic situations.More...
Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny2016-08-05Highlighting one of the most innovative American directors, this film reveals the path traveled by the auteur from his small-town Texas roots to his warm reception on the awards circuit. Long before he directed Boyhood, Richard Linklater’s intense desire to create fueled his work outside the Hollywood system. Rather than leave Texas, he chose to collaborate with like-minded artists crafting modest, low-budget films in a DIY style. His ability to showcase realistic characters and tell honest stories was evident from his films, and others soon took notice of his raw talent.More...
God's Pocket2014-05-09A boozy lowlife tries to bury the truth about his crazy stepson's suspicious death, but a nosy newspaper columnist and the young man's mother complicate matters.More...
The Page Turner2006-08-09Mélanie Prouvost, a ten-year-old butcher's daughter, is a gifted pianist. That is why she and her parents decide that she sit for the Conservatory entrance exam. Although Mélanie is very likely to be admitted, she unfortunately gets distracted by the president of the jury's offhand attitude and she fails. Ten years later, Mélanie becomes her page turner, waiting patiently for her revenge.More...
Rust and Bone2012-05-17Put in charge of his young son, Ali leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Ali's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.More...
Listen Up Philip2014-05-07Anger rages in Philip as he awaits the publication of his second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip's idol Ike Zimmerman offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.More...
Lubo2023-11-09Lubo Moser is a jenisch, a gypsy. Mirana, who tried to oppose him, was killed. But how could this have happened? Why? Because Switzerland considers nomadism a social scourge, and, to eradicate it, it takes the children of the jenisch. Thus, without children, the Jenisch will be without a future. The mastermind is a state-run humanitarian institution, Pro Juventute, the arm the Street Children's Work: everything is perfectly legal and there is no opposition to the law. Lubo feels himself dying. And something about him really does die, on that night of wind and snow: it will be a new Lubo, tough and impenetrable, who will set up a project with unexpected implications to avenge his family and his people... and it will lead us to rethink the sense of justice, in the blurred boundaries between good and evil.More...
The Son2002-05-23A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.More...
The Prince2019-08-29Chile, 1970. During a night of heavy drinking, Jaime, a lonely 20-year-old young man, is sentenced to prison. There, he meets “The Stallion”, an older and respected man in whom he finds protection, and from whom he learns about love and loyalty. But as their relationship grows stronger, “The Stallion” faces the violent power struggles within the prison.More...
Similar Movies
The Last Emperor
1987-10-04A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.Summer in Berlin
2005-09-09When you read the title ‘Summer on the Balcony’ you probably think it will be a light Berlin summer comedy but it’s not. This film is an intimate study of two women friends who come to each other because of troubles with everyday life and with men and thus try to enjoy a life based on their ideas.8½
1963-02-14Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.Tough Enough
2006-03-09From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.Sissi: The Fateful Ye...
1957-12-18After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.21 Grams
2003-09-06Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.Requiem
2006-03-02Michaela, an epileptic, enrolls in college to study education. She goes off her medication and soon begins hearing voices and seeing apparitions that tell her to avoid religious objects, although she is devoutly Roman Catholic. One priest scoffs at the idea that Michaela could be possessed by demons, but a younger pastor arranges an exorcism for the young woman.Once Were Warriors
1994-09-02A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.If I Had Legs I’d Kic...
2025-01-24With her life crashing down around her, Linda attempts to navigate her child's mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.The Hours
2002-12-27The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.To Kill a Mockingbird...
1962-12-20Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.The Master Race
1944-09-22When allied troops liberate a small battle-scarred Belgium town in 1944 the American and British commanders do all they can to help the war-weary people back on their feet. There are mental and physical wounds to heal, fields to plough, the church to rebuild. But a top Nazi, knowing the War is lost, has infiltrated the town and is fostering dissent and disunity.Same Old Song
1997-11-12Odile is a business executive looking for a new, bigger apartment. Her younger sister Camille has just completed her doctoral thesis in history and is a Paris tour guide. Simon is a regular on Camille's tours because he's attracted to her. Camille has fallen for Marc, and they begin an affair. Nicolas is also looking for an apartment, since he hopes to eventually have his family join him in Paris.Bicycle Thieves
1948-07-21Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.The Good Heart
2009-09-11Jacques is the curmudgeonly owner of a gritty New York dive bar that serves as home to a motley assortment of professional drinkers. Jacques is determinedly drinking and smoking himself to death when he meets Lucas, a homeless young man who has already given up on life. Determined to keep his legacy alive, Jacques deems Lucas is a fitting heir and takes him under his wing.You're Not Alone
2007-07-19Master painter Hans Moll and his wife, the television announcer Ms. Wellinek and her husband, and the German-Russian Jew Yevgenia have many things to live on: food, drink, an apartment. What they do not have is work. They all discover the yearning for a chance to start all over again and bring themselves back to life.Synecdoche, New York
2008-10-24A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.Afternoon
2007-02-13A family spends three summer days in a beautiful lake mansion close to Berlin. Together with her new lover, Irene visits her brother Alex, who still inhabits the house with Irene's writer son Konstantin. Konstantin's girl-friend pops in, too, and all of them drift away from each other more and more.Import/Export
2007-10-18A nurse from Ukraine searches for a better life in the West, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason. Both are looking for work, a new beginning, an existence, struggling to believe in themselves, to find a meaning in life...Don't Give Up
2021-01-02Amy was suffering from debilitating depression, until God healed her and helped her reshape her life into something amazing. In DON'T GIVE UP she tells the story of her meeting with Jesus and how it opened her eyes to the gifts around her.