“Alice”
Stories by and about women dominated SXSW’s narrative competition, but the winner (according to the jury, at least) was this tiny French drama about a mother who’s surprised to learn that her husband has emptied their bank account on high-end escorts. More surprising still, she decides that the only way to save her apartment from immediate foreclosure is to embrace the same line of work. But this is no “Belle de Jour”: Australian-born director Josephine Mackerras’ Paris-set debut doesn’t go where you’d expect, focusing on how sex work becomes an act of empowerment and self-awakening for this particular woman. — Peter Debruge