Movie · 2021 · Drama, Romance · 2h 2m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.4/10 (59.9K ratings)
Have you ever loved someone?
Overview
A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne, Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her—and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.4/10
IMDb: 6.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.20/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Metacritic: 66
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Joe Wright
Production
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Working Title Films, Bron Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance
Cast
Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn, Monica Dolan, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua James, Anjana Vasan, Ruth Sheen, Glen Hansard, Sam Amidon, Scott Folan, Mark Benton, Richard McCabe, Peter Wight, Tim McMullan, Mark Bagnall, Mike Shepherd, Paul Biddiss, Katy Owen
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A lavish, emotionally sincere musical romance with a standout central performance and strong visual sweep, but its stylized approach and anachronistic songs will be divisive. If you respond to heightened yearning and theatrical melancholy, it can be very moving; if you want a cleaner, more traditional adaptation, it may feel overworked.
Best for
viewers who love swoony, tragic romance
fans of stylized period pieces
people open to unconventional movie musicals
audiences drawn to performance-first adaptations
those who enjoy melancholy, letter-driven love stories
Skip if
you dislike modern music in period settings
you want a straightforward literary adaptation
you’re sensitive to uneven tone or visual excess
you prefer restrained, naturalistic romance
Overview
Cyrano is a bold, deeply earnest swing: a period romance that treats longing like a grand performance and heartbreak like a stage curtain falling. Peter Dinklage gives it real emotional gravity, making Cyrano’s wit, shame, and tenderness feel lived-in rather than ornamental. Haley Bennett brings warmth and fragility, and the film’s central triangle has enough emotional clarity to keep the melodrama afloat even when the concept gets busy.
Worth noting
Joe Wright leans hard into theatricality, and that’s both the movie’s charm and its biggest obstacle. The production design, costumes, and movement are designed to sweep you up, but the contemporary musical choices can feel jarring if you’re not already on board. At its best, the film turns yearning into something almost physical; at its weakest, it can seem like it’s trying a little too hard to be singular.
Bottom line
Still, there’s a genuine romantic pulse here, and it’s hard to dismiss a film this committed to its own emotional logic. It’s not the most elegant Cyrano adaptation, but it is one of the most heartfelt. For viewers who like their period drama with a little abrasion, a little pop-music melancholy, and a lot of bruised devotion, it lands.
Top Letterboxd reviews
•lily• (4★) · 1296 likes
Shoutout to joe wright period pieces about yearning… gotta be one of my favourite genders
Holli (3★) · 1045 likes
"eww she fuck the weed man for weed" - a bitch who's fucking the letter man for letters
davidehrlich (3★) · 713 likes
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Joe Wright — one of the last true madmen in Hollywood cinema — rebounds from the folly of his “Woman in the Window” with a full-throated musical adaptation of “Cyrano de Bergerac” soundtracked by The National, shot during COVID on Sicily (with hundreds of lavishly costumed extras singing a mope rock banger on the snowy peak of an active volcano!), and starring Peter Dinklage as a lovelorn poet who possesses the courage… more Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Joe Wright — one of the last true madmen in Hollywood cinema — rebounds from the folly of his “Woman in the Window” with a full-throated musical adaptation of “Cyrano de Bergerac” soundtracked by The National, shot during COVID on Sicily (with hundreds of lavishly costumed extras singing a mope rock banger on the snowy peak of an active volcano!), and starring Peter Dinklage as a lovelorn poet who possesses the courage… more
Eliza (4★) · 605 likes
You know what's better than sex? Recieving a letter.
Ella Kemp (3.5★) · 577 likes
Confirms my lifelong conviction nobody knows what love sounds like quite like The National