Two Days, One Night premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2014 to a standing ovation.

A fortnight later, it won the Sydney Film Prize at the Sydney Film Festival.

Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) received her second Best Actress nomination for her commanding performance. All of this was deserved: this film is damn near perfect.

Written and directed by two-time Palme d'Or-winning filmmakers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Two Days, One Night is a raw, human tale about resilience and survival in the modern capitalist world.

Cotillard is Sandra, a married woman with two children who plans to return to her factory job after a breakdown.

Upon returning to work, she's told that she is to be made redundant while her co-workers will receive a bonus.

Sandra's best friend at work has convinced their boss to hold another vote after the weekend: do the workers want to save Sandra's job, or keep their bonus? Sandra has two days and one night to convince them.

This film is about the way work has been stripped of much of its dignity by modern industrial practices. Or to put it more simply, it's about the power of hope. Writers and directors have often struggled to define courage, but this great performance, by a great star, shows it can be done.

The Dardennes have long been master craftsmen, but the compassion and humanity of their stories just keeps getting better, and more politically ambitious. There is not a frame wasted here.

As a film about work and the rise of individualism over collective thinking, the film is on the pulse.

As a film about the human spirit, it's a beautiful tonic.

Tickets are $16.

For further information or membership ($60 to June) please visit www.tareefilmsociety.org.au, phone 6552 3476 or find us at the food table in the foyer.