Two Days, One Night

"A quest for self-improvement"

2014 1h 35m FR

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 1,042

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job — not an easy task in this economy.

“A quest for self-improvement”

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Cast

Marion Cotillard
Sandra
Fabrizio Rongione
Manu
Catherine Salée
Juliette
Pili Groyne
Estelle
Baptiste Sornin
Mr. Dumont
Simon Caudry
Maxime
Lara Persain
Willy's wife
Alain Eloy
Willy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Writers: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Languages: Arabic, English, French
Countries: Belgium, France, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Arabic, English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, shot by Alain Marcoen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Marie-Hélène Dozo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marion Cotillard and Fabrizio Rongione and Catherine Salée carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A quest for self-improvement".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2737050 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean-Pierre Dardenne directs. Alain Marcoen behind the camera. Marie-Hélène Dozo cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Belgium, France, Italy. Dialogue in Arabic, English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 12 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Arabic, English, French.
3International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, Italy.
4Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, shot by Alain Marcoen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Marie-Hélène Dozo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Marion Cotillard and Fabrizio Rongione and Catherine Salée carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A quest for self-improvement".
8IMDB entry: tt2737050 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "depression", "suicide attempt", "belgium", "female protagonist".
10Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alain Marcoen
Editing: Marie-Hélène Dozo
Production design: Igor Gabriel
Costume design: Maïra Ramedhan Levi
Makeup / hair: Pascal Joris
Sound: Thomas Gauder
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Status: Released
Budget: $7,000,000
Box office: $9,016,922
Return: 129% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Two Days, One Night (2014)

Awards

Lumière Award for Best French-Language Film
European Film Award for Best Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-07-07
★ 8/10
Definitely good, though only thanks to Marion Cotillard's excellent performance. The premise is intriguing and features some emotional scenes, there's one with Timur (Timur Magomedgadzhiev) that particularly hit me in the feels out of nowhere; it's not even the most gut-wrenching part of the film, yet it made me feel something the most. The camera work et al. isn't all that great, the dialogue is especially underwhelming. Perhaps I was noticing it more due to viewing with subtitles, but there's a lot of moments where we see Sandra (Cotillard) retrace the same steps with each individual - it gets repetitive. Cotillard, though, is top notch. She brings so much emotion and realness with her, nailing every single scene to deserve notable props. Away from the Parisian, there aren't any others to note; they are all fine but I would've loved a more meaty cast. I'd be rating it a level lower if it wasn't for the lead, who is easily the best thing to come out of <em>'Two Days, One Night'</em>.
CinemaSerf2025-01-30
★ 7/10
I really wasn't sure of the premiss at first here, but a strong effort from a Marion Cotillard-led cast of natural acting talent does actually bring it off well. We learn that there's been a sort of a referendum at her workplace where the boss has given them a choice. The staff can keep their €1,000 bonus or they can forgo that and "Sandra" gets to keep her job. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she's lost that ballot but when she discovers that one of her colleagues was briefing against her and doing some scaremongering, she manages to get "Dumont" (Baptiste Sornin) to agree to allow another vote. Now she, and her husband "Manu" (Fabrizio Rongione) have to embark on some whistle-stop diplomacy as she must try to convince her workmates that she is a price worth paying. This film is told very much from her perspective, so we are aware of just how strenuous this is for her and her family. She needs the work - for the money, yes, but also for her sanity. The others, however, well we only really encounter them in brief soundbite form as she tries to pitch to them. We don't really learn about their own predicaments nor are we really given much understanding of just how crucial this sum of money might be to them and their own families. It's that developing scenario that didn't quite work for me here, but there's no denying the almost visceral effort delivered by Cotillard as an increasingly frustrated "Sandra" who finds herself more and more emotionally drained as the weekend takes it's toll on everyone. The writing and the direction are potent and taut and it does invite us to ask what we might do in similar circumstances as colleagues or as one struggling with the psychology this dilemma poses.