La Syndicaliste

Based on true events, La Syndicaliste tells the story of Maureen Kearney (a flawless Isabelle Huppert), a union representative for a French nuclear company who was viciously assaulted in her home in 2012. The film, which is directed and co-written by Jean-Paul Salomé, begins with the phone call Kearney’s housekeeper made to the police when she discovered her employer violated and tied to a chair. It’s an attention-grabbing cold opening, which sets a sombre tone for what’s to come. However, this tale of intrigue and deception is dulled by a flat delivery and fumbled genre shift.

Following the introductory scene, the flick jumps back several months to get viewers up to speed with who the protagonist is alongside the events that led up to her ordeal. Kearney is a dedicated fighter for workers’ rights who gets a tip that her company is entangled in some shady dealings. The corporate politics of the nuclear industry take centre stage as the union rep is faced with threats and intimidation. Despite the gradual rise in tension, the suspense never manages to sink in due to the muddy jumble of names and industry jargon making it near impossible to decipher exactly what’s going on.

It’s at this point where the pivotal incident takes place and things become more interesting as the genre morphs into a police procedural. Gone is the sluggish political drama in favour of a twisting mystery centred on the truth of Kearney’s story. Huppert’s unwavering performance grips viewers to the drama as it reveals unexpected new twists and leaves just enough room for doubt to seep in and keep audiences second-guessing the truth. As the plot thickens, La Syndicaliste likewise becomes an effective illustration of victim blaming and corruption.

Despite the latter half picking up the slack, the film is unable to fully recover from the damage left by the lethargic opening hour. Not only does the shift in genre leave a collection of once important plot threads abandoned and unanswered, but it similarly fails to ignite the spark needed to draw audiences into the protagonist’s plight as much as they should be. Had it stuck to being a procedural, La Syndicaliste could have been a far more engaging drama. As it stands, though, it’s an underwhelming dramatisation of an otherwise fascinating subject.

Andrew Murray

La Syndicaliste is released in select cinemas on 30^th June 2023.

Watch the trailer for La Syndicaliste here: