Poster of the film A Woman's Life

A Woman's Life

Drama Comedy French


Gabrielle, a dedicated surgeon and head of a hospital department, is stretched thin by the weight of responsibility. There is little time left for her private life: a loving husband and a mother who depends on her care. Yet this is the life she wanted, the life she chose. When a novelist comes to observe her at work for a book, her balance begins to shift.

Cast:Léa Drucker, Mélanie Thierry, Charles Berling, Laurent Capelluto, Marie-Christine Barrault, Yumi Narita, Suzanne de Baecque, Erri De Luca,
Director:Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
Editor:Clément Pinteaux
Camera:Noé Bach

Guild Reviews

Image of scene from the film A Woman's Life

Cannes drama about a 55-year-old surgeon questions Indian cinema

Fox in morning light

Shubhra Gupta | The Indian Express

Fri, May 15 2026

Contemporary French cinema appears to delight in giving us 50-something women, beautifully acknowledging their age, never downplaying their sensuality.

What is a woman’s life? It’s been one of those questions that filmmakers down the ages have grappled with, and will continue to do so, as we engage with the eternal dance of identity, gender politics, roles and responsibilities. Some of the answers that Charline Bourgeoise-Tacquet comes up with in her second feature, prosaically titled, A Woman’s Life (Cannes Competition section), are a surprise. Gabrielle (Lea Drucker), 55, is clearly on top of her profession, a surgeon of repute, who heads her section in a city hospital. When we come upon her, she is juggling multiple things: a long day at work, a husband (Charles Berling), a mother (Marie Christine-Barrault) with advancing dementia, and a room full of interns who seem to think work is a picnic.

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