Adapted from French director Diane Kurys’ (“Entre Nous”) own family history, this richly detailed, post-WWII drama tells the story of a young mother (Mélanie Thierry) and two significant men in her life: her husband (Benoit Magimel), who rescued her when they were both concentration camp prisoners, and his long-lost brother (Nicolas Duvauchelle), a mysterious figure who shows up one day at their apartment in postwar Paris.
Though its central love triangle is compelling, “For a Woman” is particularly notable for its quiet attention to the tedium of Lena’s life as a housewife, which also sees her husband — a fundamentally good guy, we’re led to believe, who loves her deeply — casually treating her like a servant.
The striking Thierry brings her character to nuanced life on screen, torn between loyalty to the man who saved her and passion for his Nazi-hunting brother. Meanwhile, Sylvie Testud and Julie Ferrier capably pay their adult daughters in the ’80s, who provide the narrative frame for the film’s extended flashback.