Jealous

Watch Jealous (Jalouse, 2017) online on iFILM — a French comedy directed by David and Stéphane Foenkinos. Nathalie Pêcheux, a recently divorced literature teacher, starts noticing that everyone around her seems to be doing better: her 18-year-old daughter is a beautiful ballerina, her colleagues appear more fulfilled, her neighbors more content. The envy grows into something she can't control.

Karin Viard plays Nathalie with a precision that keeps the film honest — this isn't a broad caricature but a study of a real psychological state, and it's uncomfortable in exactly the way good comedy should be. Anne Dorval plays her friend, who watches the spiral and doesn't quite know how to help. The film tracks how comparison, left unchecked, can reframe every relationship into a competition.

Viard took home the César Award for Best Actress for this performance — France's equivalent of the Oscar — and it's easy to see why: she makes Nathalie sympathetic and insufferable in the same breath. Stream Jealous (2017) on iFILM.