Virginie Efira Stuns in a Netflix Film That Should Have Won Her a César!

Virginie Efira, one of the most beloved figures in French cinema, has been a household name since her early days as a television presenter. A Belgian actress who became a French citizen, she first made her mark in comedies before proving her mettle in dramatic roles.

Fourteen years into her acting career, in 2023, Virginie Efira was finally awarded the César for Best Actress for her performance in Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris.”

However, she could have equally deserved it for another role in a different film released the same year. This touching drama, which swings from laughter to tears, is now available on Netflix and is strikingly accurate in its emotional portrayal.

Discover One of Virginie Efira’s Finest Performances on Netflix

In “Les Enfants des autres” by Rebecca Zlotowski, Virginie Efira plays Rachel, a 40-year-old teacher who is childless. She loves her life: her high school students, her friends, her ex-partners, and her guitar lessons.

When she falls in love with Ali (Roschdy Zem), she becomes attached to his four-year-old daughter, Leila. She tucks her in, cares for her, and loves her as if she were her own. But loving someone else’s child comes with its own risks…

With this film, Rebecca Zlotowski aimed to explore the narrative of what she calls “this secondary character” – the stepmother. This relationship, where a woman forms bonds with another’s children, lacks a proper term (no one speaks of “step-motherhood”) and is rarely portrayed on screen.

Avoiding negative stereotypes, the director sought to redefine the role of the stepmother: “Where is the woman who forms a deep and precious connection with children, raising them every other week for years, without having children of her own, accepting the risk that she must eventually step back once the romantic relationship with their father ends?”

Drawing inspiration from films like Alan Parker’s “Shoot the Moon,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” and “An Unmarried Woman,” Zlotowski quickly identified the perfect actress to embody her protagonist: Virginie Efira.

“Her intelligent acting, her generosity, her dignity,” positions her, according to the director, as a successor “to the figures from those character studies that hovered, protective, over the film: Jill Clayburgh, Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton”. She adds: “Gait, diction, reactions, allure: Virginie doesn’t embody femininity per se, but demonstrates a fierce, persistent will to be. To construct the person she wants to be.”

Rated 3.7 out of 5 by viewers on AlloCiné, “Les Enfants des autres” is a deeply moving film that is likely to resonate deeply, both for its subject matter and for Virginie Efira’s extraordinary performance.

“Les Enfants des autres” is now available for streaming on Netflix.