The Measure of a Man

93 minutes • 2015 • 6.8

Thierry has been fired from the factory, and is frustrated by the employment service's compulsory course. To finance the studies of his mentally handicapped son, he and his wife are considering downgrading their house and car, as well as selling a taxed caravan. When Thierry gets a job as a security guard, he has to arrest customers and employees who are weaker than himself.

Vincent Lindon won Best Actor in Cannes for this promising drama, where the emotional explosiveness lies in the long shots and the curious lingering of Thierry and his suspects. The spirit of the times is captured with a comically cool Skype job interview, before we are immersed in Brizé's astonishing and close voyeuristic exploration of human powerlessness in the face of the relentless systems it has created.