The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
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Current Issue
Books & the Arts
/ February 10, 2026
Doctor and Detective
The exposure therapy of A Private Life
The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
In her new film, Jodie Foster transforms into a therapist-detective.
Lovia Gyarkye
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(Courtesey of Sony Pictures)
Since her breakout role in Taxi Driver, Jodie Foster has been known for delivering steely performances of impenetrable women. From the adolescent runaway turned sex worker in Martin Scorsese’s gritty New York thriller to the FBI trainee negotiating with a cannibalistic serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, her characters are defined by a compelling recessiveness and relative social isolation. But lately, Foster has been trying to come out of her shell. “For somebody who is interested in privacy,” she told The Atlantic in 2024, “I am obsessed with being understood.”
This desire for a more legible interior life has led Foster to some unexpected roles. Take her turn in Nyad, an odd film about the athlete Diana Nyad’s attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida. Foster plays Diana’s friend, coach, and (at one point) partner, Bonnie Stoll, with a charming optimism, shedding her withdrawn, often self-protective posture to reveal an endearing lightness. Not only was this a rare display of on-screen exuberance, but it was the first time Foster—quiet about her own sexuality—had played an openly gay person.
If Nyad signaled Foster’s interest in a different narrative, then A Private Life, her latest film, represents an unabashed commitment to self-exposure. Here she plays Lilian Steiner, an American psychoanalyst living in France, whose wayward investigation into a patient’s death leads her down a path of intense vulnerability and reflection. The role is Foster’s first lead performance completely in French, and it transforms her almost entirely into a different person. Her voice gains an airy lilt, her eyes seem softer when the camera closes in on her face, and she brings verve and a sense of order to an otherwise scattered film.
APrivate Life kicks off with a dismissal and a death. Early in the film, one of Lilian’s patients fires her, claiming that a hypnotist has cured him of his cigarette addiction more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost. Lilian, who maintains an inscrutable affect, seems more amused than hurt by the encounter. After all, she has plenty else to do: She must order blank tapes (she records every one of her therapeutic sessions) and figure out why another patient, Paula (Virginie Efira), has missed three sessions. Through these opening moments, Foster offers her audience a portrait of an emotionally reserved woman, a person tasked with …
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
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The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
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Current Issue
Books & the Arts
/ February 10, 2026
Doctor and Detective
The exposure therapy of A Private Life
The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
In her new film, Jodie Foster transforms into a therapist-detective.
Lovia Gyarkye
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
(Courtesey of Sony Pictures)
Since her breakout role in Taxi Driver, Jodie Foster has been known for delivering steely performances of impenetrable women. From the adolescent runaway turned sex worker in Martin Scorsese’s gritty New York thriller to the FBI trainee negotiating with a cannibalistic serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, her characters are defined by a compelling recessiveness and relative social isolation. But lately, Foster has been trying to come out of her shell. “For somebody who is interested in privacy,” she told The Atlantic in 2024, “I am obsessed with being understood.”
This desire for a more legible interior life has led Foster to some unexpected roles. Take her turn in Nyad, an odd film about the athlete Diana Nyad’s attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida. Foster plays Diana’s friend, coach, and (at one point) partner, Bonnie Stoll, with a charming optimism, shedding her withdrawn, often self-protective posture to reveal an endearing lightness. Not only was this a rare display of on-screen exuberance, but it was the first time Foster—quiet about her own sexuality—had played an openly gay person.
If Nyad signaled Foster’s interest in a different narrative, then A Private Life, her latest film, represents an unabashed commitment to self-exposure. Here she plays Lilian Steiner, an American psychoanalyst living in France, whose wayward investigation into a patient’s death leads her down a path of intense vulnerability and reflection. The role is Foster’s first lead performance completely in French, and it transforms her almost entirely into a different person. Her voice gains an airy lilt, her eyes seem softer when the camera closes in on her face, and she brings verve and a sense of order to an otherwise scattered film.
APrivate Life kicks off with a dismissal and a death. Early in the film, one of Lilian’s patients fires her, claiming that a hypnotist has cured him of his cigarette addiction more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost. Lilian, who maintains an inscrutable affect, seems more amused than hurt by the encounter. After all, she has plenty else to do: She must order blank tapes (she records every one of her therapeutic sessions) and figure out why another patient, Paula (Virginie Efira), has missed three sessions. Through these opening moments, Foster offers her audience a portrait of an emotionally reserved woman, a person tasked with …
The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
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The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
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Current Issue
Books & the Arts
/ February 10, 2026
Doctor and Detective
The exposure therapy of A Private Life
The Exposure Therapy of “A Private Life”
In her new film, Jodie Foster transforms into a therapist-detective.
Lovia Gyarkye
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
(Courtesey of Sony Pictures)
Since her breakout role in Taxi Driver, Jodie Foster has been known for delivering steely performances of impenetrable women. From the adolescent runaway turned sex worker in Martin Scorsese’s gritty New York thriller to the FBI trainee negotiating with a cannibalistic serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, her characters are defined by a compelling recessiveness and relative social isolation. But lately, Foster has been trying to come out of her shell. “For somebody who is interested in privacy,” she told The Atlantic in 2024, “I am obsessed with being understood.”
This desire for a more legible interior life has led Foster to some unexpected roles. Take her turn in Nyad, an odd film about the athlete Diana Nyad’s attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida. Foster plays Diana’s friend, coach, and (at one point) partner, Bonnie Stoll, with a charming optimism, shedding her withdrawn, often self-protective posture to reveal an endearing lightness. Not only was this a rare display of on-screen exuberance, but it was the first time Foster—quiet about her own sexuality—had played an openly gay person.
If Nyad signaled Foster’s interest in a different narrative, then A Private Life, her latest film, represents an unabashed commitment to self-exposure. Here she plays Lilian Steiner, an American psychoanalyst living in France, whose wayward investigation into a patient’s death leads her down a path of intense vulnerability and reflection. The role is Foster’s first lead performance completely in French, and it transforms her almost entirely into a different person. Her voice gains an airy lilt, her eyes seem softer when the camera closes in on her face, and she brings verve and a sense of order to an otherwise scattered film.
APrivate Life kicks off with a dismissal and a death. Early in the film, one of Lilian’s patients fires her, claiming that a hypnotist has cured him of his cigarette addiction more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost. Lilian, who maintains an inscrutable affect, seems more amused than hurt by the encounter. After all, she has plenty else to do: She must order blank tapes (she records every one of her therapeutic sessions) and figure out why another patient, Paula (Virginie Efira), has missed three sessions. Through these opening moments, Foster offers her audience a portrait of an emotionally reserved woman, a person tasked with …
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