'Things To Come' has a great performance by Isabelle Huppert

Huppert's turn in the film 'Elle' is getting all the Oscar buzz, but viewers should check out 'Things,' which finds Huppert playing a college philosophy professor suddenly and unforeseeably divorced by her husband.

Isabelle Huppert’s performance in Paul Verhoeven’s scurvy, pervy psychological thriller “Elle” has been getting all the Oscar buzz, but I much prefer her in Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Things to Come,” playing Nathalie, a college philosophy professor suddenly and unforeseeably divorced by her husband of 25 years, also a philosophy professor.

As one might imagine from that pairing – not to mention that this is a French movie – there are plenty of pensées in this stew. But Huppert never loses sight of the fact that Nathalie’s wounded heart often overrules her steel-trap mind. “I’m lucky to be fulfilled intellectually – that’s reason enough to be happy,” she says, as the words freeze on her face. Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for brief language and drug use.)