The French murder mystery movie Anatomy of a Fall is making waves around the world for its tense subject matter and impressive storytelling beats. It premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won the coveted Palme d’Or and the Pal Dog Award.
It was then released in France where it quickly became one of the most popular films in the country of all time. But was it based on a true story? Let’s dig in a little.
What is Anatomy of a Fall About?
Anatomy of a Fall revolves around a German writer named Sandra, her French husband Samuel, and their blind son Daniel. They live in a secluded town in the French Alps, and when Samuel is found dead in the snow after apparently falling from a balcony, police try to figure out whether it was an accidental death, suicide, or murder.
Sandra, who’s had several affairs over the course of the marriage, is treated like a prime suspect in the case, and in that webbing lies a psychological foray into the crumbling of a marriage through the eyes of a court drama.
It stars Sandra Hüller as Sandra, Milo Machado-Graner plays Daniel, and Samuel Theis plays Samuel. The movie was directed by Justine Triet, who also wrote the screenplay. It was made on a shoestring budget of around $6.8 million.
Is Anatomy of a Fall based on a true story?
The short answer is no, but it’s not that black and white. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Triet reveals that he wrote the movie with Hüller in mind as the protagonist, after seeing her in the much-lauded movie Toni Erdmann.
Hüller is of course German so Triet was going to write the movie in English, but then he decided that instead of getting rid of doing away with the different languages just because Hüller was German didn’t really make sense to him. Instead, he made it integral to the plot.
He was, however, inspired by certain shows and genres.
“I read these kinds of true-crime stories on an almost daily basis and watch, again almost on a daily basis, these trial movies and series. So they were an inspiration.”
He continued that he knew one day he would make a movie with a trial at its center, but he didn’t like how they all had either a simple ending or were easy to figure out.
“The resolution is always too obvious. I don’t want to give any spoilers for the film, but the resolution here is not obvious.”
He wanted to make “something quite complex,” and if you watch the film you’ll find out exactly what he’s talking about.
Anatomy of a Fall is currently in theaters. We’ll update this when it’s available to stream.