Potiche 2011

In 1977, in the fictional, sunlit corner of northern France known as Sainte-Gudule, Nord, the life of Suzanne Pujol unfolds behind the gates of a prominent umbrella factory. She is presented as a devoted, though ultimately constrained, wife to Robert, the domineering president who wields his position with a mix of bluster and charm. Robert’s reputation for patronizing those around him—most pointedly Suzanne—belies a fragility underneath his commanding exterior. His affair with his secretary, Nadège, creates a fault line at home, where Suzanne and Robert are also raising two adult children with very different temperaments. Their daughter, Joëlle, embodies conservatism as the wife of a globe-trotting businessman and mother of two, while their son, Laurent, leans toward liberal ideas and artistic sensibilities as a student with his eye on more expansive horizons.

When the factory’s workers walk off the job in a demand for better conditions, the sudden crisis forces Robert into a confrontation he cannot simply command away. He is taken hostage, a development that shakes the family’s already fragile balance. That night, Suzanne seeks counsel from Maurice Babin, the town’s Communist mayor and a former union leader with whom she once shared a younger, more hopeful relationship. Babin urges Suzanne to assume leadership in Robert’s stead, arguing that careful diplomacy could secure the workers’ trust and bring production back to life. The next day, Robert’s heart gives way to a hospital bed, and the power pivot in Sainte-Gudule shifts decisively toward Suzanne.

With Babin’s guidance, Suzanne steps into management and crafts a strategy that blends respect with firmness. She reaches out to the factory workers, listening to their concerns and guiding them toward a renewed sense of purpose. Under her watch, production resumes, and the plant begins to show gains not only in output but in morale. Suzanne brings the family into the operation as well, entrusting Laurent with design duties that reinterpret the classic umbrella pattern through the lens of Kandinsky’s abstract art, a choice that signals both innovation and a break from the old ways. The business begins to prosper, and the atmosphere at the factory starts to reflect what many had imagined possible under Suzanne’s steadier hand.

Yet the path forward remains tangled in personal loyalties. A nightclub visit with Babin leads to a moment of closeness—an emotional hint of what might have been—though Suzanne insists that their relationship remain rooted in friendship. She emphasizes that she is not seeking a return to the old dynamic but acknowledges the value of having Babin as an ally. When Robert recovers and seeks to reclaim control, Suzanne reveals that she now holds the majority of the company’s shares, a revelation that redefines the power balance within the family and the town.

Nadège, who had been entwined with Robert, ends the affair and aligns with Suzanne, recognizing a mutual respect that had been missing in the marriage. The couple’s past becomes a lens through which Suzanne assesses the present, including the delicate, troubling disclosures about lineage. When Robert hints that Laurent might be his son, Suzanne counters with a revelation of her own infidelity in their early marriage, suggesting that the question of paternity is far from settled. The tension peaks when Joëlle presents Suzanne with a locket containing photos of her and Babin, prompting a confrontation that forces Babin to confront a troubling possibility: if Laurent were truly Babin’s son, it would complicate the political and familial loyalties at stake. The drive to a lake, where Suzanne offers a candid clarification that Laurent is not Babin’s son, leaves Babin disappointed and alone, a reminder of the enduring ambiguity that shadows their lives.

A boardroom showdown soon follows. Joëlle, wielding her own strategic instincts, transfers her shares to Robert, pushing Suzanne out of day-to-day control. The cost of this maneuver becomes clear when Joëlle confesses that Robert promised to hire her husband in exchange for her votes—an arrangement rooted in the fear of an unstable future as she faces another pregnancy. This revelation reinforces the sense that power in Sainte-Gudule is always negotiated, never freely given.

Time passes, and Suzanne’s life takes a decisive turn. The divorce from Robert looms, though the couple continues to share a living space that echoes their complicated history. Seizing the moment of her independence, Suzanne turns her attention to public life, stepping into politics with a bold, independent bid for mayor against Babin. The race culminates in a new chapter: Suzanne is elected as a deputy, a victory that marks both personal triumph and a redefinition of her role in the town’s leadership, while Babin remains a prominent presence as mayor. In this arc, Suzanne’s journey from a constrained wife to a capable, forward-looking leader embodies a nuanced arc of empowerment, resilience, and the enduring complexity of family, power, and ambition.