The French legal system calls for any individual who has been hospitalized in a psychiatric facility against his or her will to appear before a specialized judge twelve days after being admitted. After discussing the case with the patient and his or her counsel, the judge determines whether the hospitalization should be prolonged. Raymond Depardon, a master documentarian with extensive experience filming both the French legal system and in hospitals, was given exceptional access to several of these closed hearings at a facility near Lyon. The hearings seen in 12 Days create an extraordinarily intimate set of portraits of individuals in distress, expressing their frustrations, fears, hopes, and, often, delusions. Facing them, a variety of judges are by turns helpless, paternalistic, attentive and even tender. But 12 Days’ greatest accomplishment is to reach beyond the individuals  and address systemic questions regarding mental health and French society at large: in short, what is it about our contemporary world that drives us mad? The case of one patient’s workplace harassment at a telecommunications firm sketches a terrifying picture of our vulnerability under the reign of late capitalism. As always, Depardon remains a stoic but empathetic witness to the world’s sorrows.