Marianne Winckler (Juliette Binoche) is actually more likely to wield a pen than a broom. For the research for her new book on precarious working conditions, the renowned Parisian writer wants to experience the reality of the low-wage sector first-hand. “To make the invisible visible” - as she says at one point. Marianne pretends to be a recently abandoned, penniless wife, finds work as a cleaner in Normandy and discovers a life that is ignored by the rest of society and in which every euro earned counts. Cleaning the ferries under time pressure is a tough experience. On the other hand Marianne experiences solidarity and a strong bond with her new colleagues. The mutual help and support leads to friendship and trust. But what happens to this trust when Marianne's original intentions come to light? "In order to achieve as much authenticity as possible, Binoche is joined by non-professionals who more or less play themselves. [...] The result is an incredibly truthful film - which also casually tells the story of those who have to toil for starvation wages: Women, black people, trans people." (Falk Straub, on: kino-zeit.de) "However one answers the ethical questions of the undercover research on which the screenplay is based, the film plays with open cards. The narrative is absolutely convincing and all the roles are fantastically cast, although the cleaners [...] are non-professional actors who, above all Hélène Lambert, are in no way inferior to Juliette Binoche. AS IN REAL LIFE teaches respect for workers who remain almost invisible in the real lives of ship travelers, even though they have transformed a garbage dump into a neat cabin in just a few minutes and whose backs will eventually demand the price of this work." (Christoph Becker, on: artechock.de)