Sibyl (2019)

A jaded psychotherapist returns to her first passion of becoming a writer.

Director:

Justine Triet

Writers:

Arthur Harari (screenplay), David H. Pickering (English dialogue)

Stars:

Virginie Efira, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Gaspard Ulliel

3 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Virginie Efira	...	Sibyl
Adèle Exarchopoulos	...	Margot Vasilis
Gaspard Ulliel	...	Igor
Sandra Hüller	...	Mika
Laure Calamy	...	Edith
Niels Schneider	...	Gabriel
Paul Hamy	...	Etienne
Arthur Harari	...	Katz
Adrien Bellemare	...	Daniel
Jeane Arra-Bellanger	...	Selma (as Jeane Ara Bellanger)
Liv Harari	...	Livia
Lorenzo Lefèbvre	...	Galotin
Aurélien Bellanger	...	L'éditeur
Philip Vormwald	...	Le patient quitté
Henriette Desjonquères	...	La meneuse AA

Storyline

A sly, sultry character study from filmmaker Justine Triet, SIBYL follows a psychotherapist (Virginie Efira) who decides to quit her practice and return to writing instead. As Sibyl starts dropping patients, she begins to struggle with excess time and a lack of inspiration--until she gets a call from Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young actress wrapped up in a dramatic affair with her costar, Igor (Gaspard Ulliel), who happens to be married to the film's director (Sandra Hüller). Becoming further enmeshed in Margot's life, Sibyl starts to blur past and present, fiction with reality, and the personal with the professional as she begins to use Margot's life as source material for her novel.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | female nudity | bare breasts | sex scene | one word title | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second collaboration between Virginie Efira and Justine Triet.

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Connections

References Dirty Dancing (1987)

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Soundtracks

Un giorno come un altro
(Italian version of "Un premier jour sans toi", 1969)
Written by Nino Ferrer
Translated into Italian
Published in 1970.

User Reviews

A surprisingly crafty take on an otherwise boring subject.

I was somewhat skeptical before entering the theater, thinking it would turn out to be another boring film about white people surrendering themselves to hordes of therapists, french woman suffering from romantic distress and so on. However, the writer/director cleverly managed to create a layered portrayal of the protagonist shrink and the world she lives in - blending in her present life, her past, the fiction novel she's writing and the movie her patient stars in. The script is mature, quirky and unpredictable enough to handle these four layers without becoming pointless and confusing. The performances are stellar, especially of Sandra Huller as the temperamental film director.

There is no dearth of past french films handling similar material. Yet somehow this film appears fresh and profusely entertaining.

Details

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French English Italian

Release Date:

11 September 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sibyl

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,943,278

Company Credits

Production Co:

France 2 Cinéma, Les Films de Pierre, Page 114

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (as Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1