Things to Come (French: L'Avenir, pronounced [lavniʁ] , lit. 'The Future')) is a 2016 drama film written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. It stars Isabelle Huppert as Nathalie Chazeaux, a middle-aged philosophy professor whose life undergoes a series of changes. The film explores the themes of aging, family ties, intellectual passion, and personal freedom.
Things to Come premiered in the main competition at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, where Hansen-Løve won the Silver Bear for Best Director. The film received widespread critical acclaim and Huppert won several nominations and awards for her performance, including the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, and the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year. It is considered among the best films of the 2010s and of the 21st century.
Things to Come was released theatrically in France on 6 April 2016 by Les Films du Losange and in Germany on 18 August 2016 by Weltkino Filmverleih.
Contents
Plot
Nathalie teaches philosophy in a Parisian high school, but for her it is not just a job, it is a way of living and thinking. With a past permeated by youthful idealism, she now aims to teach students to think for themselves, using philosophical texts that stimulate confrontation and discussion. Her life flows between her work, her husband, her two grown children, and her ex-model mother who needs constant attention. However, suddenly everything changes: her husband leaves her, her mother dies and Nathalie finds herself with unexpected and unusual freedom.
Cast
Isabelle Huppert as Nathalie Chazeaux
André Marcon as Heinz
Roman Kolinka as Fabien
Édith Scob as Yvette Lavastre
Sarah Le Picard as Chloé
Solal Forte as Johann
Élise Lhomeau as Elsa
Lionel Dray as Hugo
Grégoire Montana-Haroche as Simon
Lina Benzerti as Antonia
Yves Heck as Daniel
Production
Hansen-Løve said she wrote the role of Nathalie with Isabelle Huppert in mind. She also said Nathalie was loosely based on her mother, who was a philosophy professor and separated from her husband later in life. Principal photography began on 22 June 2015 in Paris.
Reception
Critical response
Things to Come received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A union to cherish between a writer-director and star working at peak power, Things to Come offers quietly profound observations on life, love, and the irrevocable passage of time." At Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 28 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Box office
Things to Come grossed $5.6 million at the worldwide box office.