Claire Denis’s Bright Sunshine In follows the romantic misadventures of Isabelle, played by Juliette Binoche, an artist and single mother who is in an unfulfilling relationship with a married banker. She eventually breaks off with him and begins a series of flings that stop short of blossoming into full-fledged relationships. Even though Isabelle’s carousel of lovers sounds like the setup of a mainstream romantic comedy, Claire Denis moulds this deceptively accessible story into a philosophical discourse on love. Unusually verbose for a Denis film, Bright Sunshine In signals a change of pace for a filmmaker who has continued to evolve in her practice to portraying human desire.

Claire Denis (b. 1946, France) began her career working on set in Dusan Makavejev's Sweet Movie (1974). Her years working alongside Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch were crucial to her growth as a filmmaker before she directed her debut Chocolat (1988). Her next films I Can’t Sleep (1994) and Nénette et Boni (1996) interweave narratives inspired by the urban culture of Paris. Denis’s elliptical narrative and visual style received widespread acclaim with Beau Travail (1999) while Trouble Every Day (2001) made a shocking presentation in which Denis, regarded as an arthouse director, turned to the horror genre. The 2000s were significant for her career, which saw the release of Friday Night (2002), 35 Shots of Rum (2008), and White Material (2009). In 2022, Both Sides of the Blade and Stars at Noon won prizes at the Berlinale and Cannes respectively. Working closely with her long-time collaborators, such as cinematographer Agnès Godard and the rock band Tindersticks, Denis has contributed a diverse body of work to contemporary cinema.