New from French social realist masters the Dardennes brothers (Two Days, One Night; The Child), The Unknown Girl – screened in Competition at Cannes – follows a young doctor as she investigates the death of an immigrant.
Gifted and idealistic, Jenny (French rising star Adèle Haenel) is a brilliant doctor in Liège who prides herself on her professionalism with patients. One evening after closing the practice she hears her doorbell ring, but doesn’t answer. The next day, the police inform her a young woman has been found dead close by.
While undertaking her usual rounds and seeing patients, Jenny – stricken with guilt – obsessively tries to uncover the woman’s identity. But as she looks further, the question of blame becomes more complex than it first seems.
