France | 2021 | 107’ | TBC | Emmanuel Carrère | French with English subtitles | Juliette Binoche, Hélène Lambert
In the wake of the 2008 global economic collapse, journalist Marianne relocates to the port city of Caen to pass herself off as a member of a large community of itinerant workers desperate to make ends meet. She gains employment as a cleaner on a ferry travelling between Ouistreham and Portsmouth, recording the drudgery of the work she and her colleagues are required to do. At the same time, she grapples with the ethical and moral dimensions of posing as one of the workers, balancing the need to highlight the lives of her colleagues with her mixed feelings about the deception. Her dilemma is heightened as the women develop bonds of friendship and community, displaying a resilience and sense of fun beneath the hardship of their work. Adapted from Florence Aubenas’ non-fiction bestseller The Night Cleaners, Binoche gives a beautiful performance, in this nuanced portrait of the workers and the struggles they face.
