(spoiler free)
With the cost of living crisis looming large over many and significant strike action currently prevalent across the UK and Ireland, writer/director Éric Gravel’s new social issue drama arrives feeling as timely as ever. Set predominately in Paris, the setting and context for Full Time of course differ, but much of the film’s sentiment remains applicable for many foreign audiences.
The film follows Julie (Laure Calamy), a single mother and head maid at a luxury Parisian Hotel. Her daily commute – from the remote suburb she and her two children live to the busy French capital – is soon affected by a transport strike that disrupts her already hectic schedule. Amidst her chaotic routine she manages to secure a dream job interview, but in order to actually pursue this hopeful opportunity she must first attempt to arrange cover at work and make it across the city mid-strike.
Full Time acutely understands the extreme stress of Julie’s situation and subsequently the film unfolds, not like the drama that viewers might be expecting, but instead as an intense thriller that offers little relief for its characters and audience. Julie’s exhaustive days play out like she’s stuck in a time loop, seeing her repeatedly forced to manoeuvre the unjust challenges of everyday life. Irène Drésel’s score enhances this sense of anxiety tenfold as it accompanies Julie’s day with a synthy beat that you’d expect to hear in a neon-drenched actioner. It’s never out of place though, sadly feeling all too appropriate for Julie’s never-ending struggle to provide.
The only noticeable shift comes with the transition from week to weekend, however even then the stress of work and the commute are simply replaced with tiring childcare and chores; there’s simply no let up. Gravel conveys the severity of how unhealthy and unfair this lifestyle is with an unmistakable direction, taking Julie to breaking point in gripping fashion. Despite the admittedly repetitive nature of the plot, it never becomes a tiresome watch. It’s paced wonderfully, with its concise runtime working in the film’s favour and the aforementioned score injecting it with an impressive momentum that just like Julie’s daily exertion, almost always has its foot on the gas.
Although the strongest force driving the film forward is without a doubt Laure Calamy’s remarkable leading performance. Julie is a thoroughly capable woman and Calamy gives her the power needed to make this possible. She’s truly a force to reckoned with but she also excels in the plot’s more subtle moments. She’s able to communicate her exasperation with a single sigh or a pained expression. She’s undoubtedly a woman firmly in charge of her own existence and that of her family’s, but all whilst traversing life’s treacherous tightrope that’s indicative of the precarious times we live in. As a performer, Calamy finds this balance perfectly.
Similarly to Julie then, the film doesn’t waste a second of its time. It tells its story with an honesty and urgency that’s much needed concerning its subject; a healthy work/life balance has become an illusion for too many and Gravel’s depiction here will hit close to home. Aligning Full Time closer with a thriller than a drama both makes it a more exciting cinematic experience but also demonstrates the exponential pressure of simply existing in this day and age, and more alarmingly how close those in power would have us to complete collapse.
Written by Hamish Calvert
★★★★
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Thanks to Queen’s Film Theatre for screening access
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