Lockdown Viewing: Private Life

This sensitive, superbly acted comedy from director Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills, Savages) is one of the best American indies of the past couple of years.

Kathryn Hahn plays Rachel, a New York author desperately trying to have a child with her partner Richard (Paul Giamatti). The strain on their relationship as they enter their final round of IVF is portrayed with brutal honesty, not to mention caustic humour. But that’s nothing compared to what happens when they convince the daughter of a family friend to be a surrogate for their baby. Full of brilliantly written characters, Private Life is a film that pulls no punches. But its constant good humour (particularly with the awkward situations that Rachel and Richard find themselves in) is never far away. That rare film combining laugh out loud humour with real, believable people, and a deeply felt empathy for its characters.

Private Life is available to watch now on Netflix