Things to Come (2016 film)

Things to Come (L'Avenir) 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 was released theatrically in France on 6 April 2016 by Les Films du losange and in Germany on 18 August 2016 by Weltkino Filmverleih. The film received critical acclaim and was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, Hansen-Løve won the Silver Bear for Best Director. Huppert won several nominations and awards for her performance in the film, 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.

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

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.

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.