Two Days, One Night

Wearing a scrunchie and cheap vests so as to look convincingly like an ordinary working-class woman, Marion Cotillard gives her formidable all as Sandra, a woman on the edge, in this urgent, humanist drama from the Dardenne brothers (The Kid with a Bike). Over the course of a weekend, Sandra must convince her co-workers at a small factory to vote in her favour after the management gives them the option of either receiving a thousand-euro annual bonus or keeping Sandra employed. Some agree, and some don't, but even those voting for self-interest often have good reasons, given they're struggling to survive just like Sandra in a brutal economy where those in power resort to divide-and-rule tactics. As the arguments rage, the film-makers work up a great head of tension, but some viewers may have a niggling feeling that they've seen this sort of high-minded drama from the Dardennes many times already.