The Truth is probably more French language than English language from Koreeda. It is also very good. Bit of a Clouds of Sils Maria vibe.
One of These Days
When I read the description for this film in the festival guide, about a contest where people have to keep a hand on a pick-up and the last one standing wins it, it was clear this was a spiritual descendant of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Of course, I also thought it was going to be a documentary. Like the dance marathons that TSHDT was based on, I assume this narrative film is based of real contests (a trend that Brooklyn Nine-Nine made fun of in the form of a stroller giveaway) and those contests certainly beg similar questions about free will in a capitalist system that lets people hit rock bottom.
Thematically, it is definitely interest to contrast this film against TSHDT. That film, set in Los Angeles, with its Hollywood strivers amid the depression had a different vibe then this modern day film set in small town Louisiana dealing with some of the small town malaise that affects much of the country outside the superstar metros. At a minimum, it seems this contest, unlike the one in TSHDT, is on the up and up, and victory actually does mean receiving a windfall of a truck probably in the 50-100k range (I don't know truck prices other than a bunch of people who claim to be poor drive them even though they are extremely expensive). And I don't know if it speaks to people becoming soft or different conditions in the contest, but this one lasts a whole lot less time. But more central to the difference is the centrality of masculinity, especially a floundering/toxic form. Certainly in TSHDT there is some sniping between contestants but in this we see a more overt animosity.
The film itself is offered from two perspectives, which kind of transfer at the midpoint. We start with Joan (Carrie Preston) who is the marketing person with the car dealership that sponsors the event, and it is from her that we get the most desperate defenses of the event as fun rather than exploitative. Then we hand to Kyle (Joe Cole) who is struggling to be the provider for his wife and child that he/society says he should be. It is into that weakness that his primary rival in the contest jams his thumb. And as the tension builds, and the contestants get more delirious, things escalate. From a stylistic standpoint, that change in the perspectives is subtle until a very much unsubtle decision for the final portion of the film makes it more obvious. Though the film is certainly not told in the reverse chronology of Memento or Irreversible, there is a certain sense of using a gentle ending to highlight the tragedy in one respect but soften it in another. This is in contrast to TSHDT's unbroken bleakness.
Anyway, this is certainly not the masterpiece of pacing and acting and cinema as a whole that TSHDT is, but it is a worthwhile updating of the concept to remind us that we haven't come far enough in averting despair in spite all our prosperity as a society.