Movie · 2025 · Comedy, Drama, History · 1h 46m · R · French
Curator score: 6.9/10 (119.9K ratings)
Everyone loves the new wave.
Overview
After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, a young Jean-Luc Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He convinces producer Georges de Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, and creates a treatment with fellow New Wave filmmaker François Truffaut about a gangster couple. The result? Breathless, one of the first features of the Nouvelle Vague era of French cinema.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.9/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.71/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Metacritic: 76
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Richard Linklater
Production
ARP Sélection, Detour Filmproduction
Cast
Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Adrien Rouyard, Antoine Besson, Jodie Ruth-Forest, Bruno Dreyfürst, Benjamin Cléry, Matthieu Penchinat, Pauline Belle, Frank Cicurel, Blaise Pettebone, Benoît Bouthors, Paolo Luka Noé, Jade Phan-Gia, Jonas Marmy, Côme Thieulin, Alix Bénézech, Léa Luce Busato, Tom Novembre
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A playful, affectionate behind-the-scenes tribute to the making of Breathless that works best as a cinephile hangout movie. It’s less a radical reinvention than a charming recreation of a revolutionary moment, but the cast, period detail, and Linklater’s easygoing rhythm make it an easy recommendation for film lovers.
Best for
cinephiles who enjoy movies about movies
fans of the French New Wave
viewers who like breezy, dialogue-driven period pieces
people interested in the mythology of film history
audiences who enjoy Richard Linklater’s conversational, lightly nostalgic tone
Skip if
you want a deep formal experiment rather than a polished tribute
you have no interest in film history or behind-the-scenes storytelling
you prefer high-stakes plots over mood and recreation
you’re looking for a definitive account of Breathless rather than a companion piece
Overview
Nouvelle Vague is a love letter to a moment when criticism, rebellion, and movie-mad obsession collided. Rather than trying to out-radicalize the era it depicts, it leans into wit, texture, and the pleasure of watching artists invent a new language with little money and a lot of nerve.
Worth noting
The film’s appeal is in its atmosphere: cigarettes, cafés, arguments, and the sense that everyone in the room believes cinema can still be remade from scratch. That approach may feel slight to viewers hoping for a more searching or formally daring take, but it gives the movie a relaxed confidence that suits its subject.
Bottom line
As a portrait of creative emergence, it’s charming and often very funny. As a statement about the French New Wave, it’s more affectionate than revelatory. But for anyone who likes film history rendered as a lively social comedy, it lands with real warmth.
Top Letterboxd reviews
jonathan fujii (4★) · 3290 likes
I liked the part when they were smoking cigarettes
Karsten (3.5★) · 2930 likes
i was so whatever about this going into it but it won me over almost immediately, that dick link CHARM. scratches that documentary now itch. love that the cannes audience reacted to each french new wave director appearance like it was a marvel movie. i’ll bite, i left inspired
garbaggio · 2223 likes
avengers: endgame for people subscribed to mubi notebook
Thomas Flight · 1977 likes
Watching this at Cannes in an audience of about 1000 film critics was such a vibe haha. People will want it to be way more than it is, which is basically a fun time.
It’s funny to watch critics act like this is some kind of slight or disrespect to Godard because it’s not more profound or formally radical. Someone said “he’s rolling in his grave.” I don’t know maybe let him roll, it’s good exercise. Why be so precious about a figure who was so radically un-precious about the form?
davidehrlich (2.5★) · 1639 likes
it's cute i guess, but i fail to see the point — few movies are better documents of their own creation than Breathless. the cosplay of it all is that much more disappointing from Richard Linklater, one of the only living filmmakers who actually knows what it's like to spark a revolution.
1981 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 52m · PG · Curator 9.0/10 (101.7K ratings) · Where to watch: TCM, Max
A dialogue-driven film for viewers who enjoy ideas, personality, and the pleasure of watching people think aloud.
Topics
French New Wave, period drama, cinephilia, behind the scenes, artistic rebellion, film history, comedy-drama, 1960s, black and white aesthetic, café culture