"I just want you to know one thing: I'm not a monster."
So a mother tells her young son in the trailer for Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall, which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The family drama-turned-legal drama takes place in the wake of a suspicious death, as novelist Sandra (Sandra Hüller) is suspected of murdering her husband, and her blind 11-year-old son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), is the only witness.
"My intention was to create a film that portrays the downfall of a couple's relationship. The concept was to depict the physical and emotional descent of a body in a technical manner, symbolizing the decline of their love story," Triet says. "This couple has a son who discovers their tumultuous relationship during a trial that scrutinizes every aspect of their past. As the trial unfolds, the boy transitions from a state of complete trust in his mother to one of doubt, marking a crucial turning point in his life."
The French writer and director wrote Anatomy of a Fall with her real-life partner, filmmaker Arthur Harari. When the film won Cannes' top prize in May, Triet became only the third woman to take home the Palme d'Or.
Anatomy of a Fall opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 13. Watch the trailer below.
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