The Unknown Girl – 8

A thoughtful, very real examination of guilt, confession and community responsibility from the Belgian masters, the Dardennes brothers. Star Adele Haenel was onscreen the entire time, and I never tired of watching her. The plot toyed with that of a policier, which the directors said they wanted to avoid, but that’s what drove the action and our interest. In the end, though, it was Dr. Jenny’s refusal to let the ‘unknown girl’ pass away unremarked that made everyone else face up to their own responsibility, and that gave a coherence to the story. Kudos (Oscar?) to Haenel, but I don’t think she needed to smoke. (NYFF)