Oscar Sunday is just over two weeks away, which means you have just over two weeks to finish your movie-watching homework. Your next assignment: Two Days, One Night, a French-language film from the lauded Dardenne brothers starring Marion Cotillard, who received yet another nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role by the Academy. (Yet, somehow, the movie isn’t nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. The Oscars are weird.) It screens Feb. 6-12 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
The story follows Sandra (Cotillard), a young Belgian mother of two who is laid off while on medical leave for depression. After determining that the shop in which Sandra works can be just as efficient with one less person, her supervisor informs those who remained on staff would that they would receive a bonus after Sandra is let go. It’s then determined that a vote would be cast by the employees to determine whether Sandra would keep her job. In an act of desperation, Sandra reluctantly visits each of her coworkers at the urging of her husband, Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), pleading with them to forgo their bonus and allow her to continue supporting her family. It’s raw, earnest stuff, and it features some of the most potent scenes and compelling performances (namely Cotillard’s, of course, as she’s great in everything she does) you’re bound to see before the Oscars — if you see it before the Oscars, which you should.
Watch the trailer below, and get the full list of showtimes over at the Museum of Art’s website.
