While Nora tries to present a facade that all is well with her life, she is twice divorced and has a son, Elias, whose father is dead.

A parallel story-line follows her former lover and second husband, Ismaël Vuillard, a musician with whom she had lived for seven years.

"[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

[6] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "rich, complex and deeply pleasing".

[7] Erica Abeel of Film Journal International wrote: "Its novelistic breadth, pitched intensity and on-the-fly shooting style pull the viewer smack-dab into the middle of these lives.