An understated Isabelle Huppert brings unexpected profundity to a movie that could have remained dry and academic.

Her lead character is a philosophy prof who’s forever overthinking life. Even when her own starts to fall apart, she insists: “I’m lucky enough to be fulfilled intellectually, and that’s reason enough to be happy.” Except we don’t quite believe her and realize that beneath her unflappable exterior, she is starting to break down. She’s always had someone to take care of—her children, her husband, and her aging mother—but now they’re disappearing, just like the beloved books she’s losing amid the breakup of her marriage.

It’s a riveting, subtle performance, one that questions the meaning of happiness as the film follows Huppert, who’s always striding around in a rush, in circles as she tries to quell her loneliness and find peace. Quiet, brainy questioning that could only have come out of France.