Days before her term in office ends, a sitting president faces a decision that will define how she is remembered, at the center of The World of Yesterday, Diastème's 2022 French political drama.
What is The World Of Yesterday about?
The film follows the closing stretch of a French presidency, when the outgoing head of state must settle one last major question about the country's future before handing power to a successor. Framed as both a moral tale and a political thriller, it moves through the corridors and closed-door rooms where that decision takes shape, tracking the aides, advisors and rivals who each want to steer the outcome their own way. Rather than staging grand set-piece confrontations, the film builds its tension from conversations, hesitations and the private weight of a choice that will outlast the presidency itself, closing on a portrait of power at the exact moment it starts slipping away.
About the cast
Léa Drucker leads the cast as the outgoing president, with Denis Podalydès and Alban Lenoir among the officials orbiting her final days in office. Benjamin Biolay, Jacques Weber, Thierry Godard, Emma de Caunes and Jeanne Rosa round out an ensemble built around the palace's inner circle during a moment of transition.
Context & significance
Written and directed by Diastème, The World of Yesterday sits in a French tradition of political dramas that use the machinery of the state as a stage for personal reckoning rather than headline events. Its 89-minute runtime keeps the focus tight on the final days of one administration, treating the presidency less as spectacle than as a set of quiet, consequential decisions made under pressure and against the clock.
Watching The World Of Yesterday on Ktime
The World of Yesterday streams on K-Time with a free account login, and the platform carries both a Persian dub and Persian subtitles for viewers who prefer either option. K-Time's interface is built for the Iranian diaspora audience, with Farsi menus and search running alongside the French-language original.