Whanganui Film Society will screen French film Hippocrates next Monday night.
Doctor turned director Thomas Lilti's film draws on his own medical experience.
Charles Gant of Variety decribed the film as a low-key comedy-drama.
"For his first stint as an intern doctor at a Paris hospital, young Benjamin (tousle-haired, boyish-looking Vincent Lacoste) has the advantage - if it may be so termed - of his father (Jacques Gamblin) already working there in a senior role.
"But with resources dwindling, Benjamin quickly makes a serious error when he fails to administer an electrocardiogram to a patient with abdominal pains, who dies in the night.
"No matter that the man, a regular patient nicknamed 'Tsunami' (Thierry Levaret), was a chronically drunk, homeless man with severe cirrhosis and very limited life expectancy, or that the ECG machine was known to be broken.
"Authorities quickly close ranks to protect Benjamin and cover up his lapse, deflecting inquiries from Tsunami's former wife (Julie Brochen), who has suddenly made herself known to them."
The film has come to Whanganui as part of the Alliance Francais French Film Festival courtesy of the Embassy of France.
Hippocrates is the first of 14 films scheduled to screen for the second half of the 2017 season.
Film Society president Helen-Marie O'Connell said the line-up features documentaries, animation, contemporary and classic cinema from around the world.
Half-year memberships which cover admission to all 14 films are available to purchase online at whanganuifilmsociety.org.nz at $45 or $40 discounted (for students, Gold Card holders and Community Service Card holders).
Three film samplers can also be purchased for $30.
Memberships can also be purchased at the Davis Theatre before screenings.
Hippocrates screens at Davis Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, Watt St, on Monday, August 7 at 7pm.