Nicolas Klotz’s Heartbeat Detector (La Question Humaine in French), based on Francois Emmanuel’s novel, is a stylish and subtle film of ideas concerning humanity’s conflict with rigid and efficient ideas of progress. The story centers on Mathieu Amalric’s Simon Kessler, a human resources psychologist working at German multinational petrochemical corporation SC Farb.

What first appears as a basic exploration of corporate greed and the dangers of losing oneself in the corporate world quietly turns into a deeper exploration of present day models of efficiency that go back as far as World War II - the connection between fascism and corporate greed being stronger than one might originally think.

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