Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to choose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.
Filmazure, Pirol Stiftung, Victoires International
Cast
Steve Buscemi, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Axel Kiener, Julie Bataille, Bruno Podalydès, Florence Muller, Fanny Ardant, Leïla Bekhti, Juliette Binoche, Seydou Boro, Javier Cámara, Sergio Castellitto, Martin Combes, Cyril Descours, Lionel Dray, Marianne Faithfull, Ben Gazzara, Hippolyte Girardot
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A charming, uneven anthology that works best as a mood piece: affectionate, lightly whimsical, and occasionally moving, but also inconsistent from segment to segment. The strongest shorts capture Paris as a place of fleeting encounters and romantic possibility; the weaker ones feel more like clever exercises than fully realized stories.
Best for
anthology fans
Paris romantics
viewers who enjoy short-form filmmaking
fans of international ensemble casts
people in the mood for a few standout segments rather than a seamless feature
Skip if
you want a tightly unified narrative
you dislike uneven anthologies
you need every segment to be emotionally substantial
you prefer romance with strong plot momentum
Overview
Paris, Je T'aime is less a single film than a curated walk through a city, with each stop offering a different tone, accent, and idea of love. That variety is the point: some shorts are playful, some melancholy, some absurd, and a few land with real tenderness. When it clicks, it feels like a love letter to Paris as lived-in space rather than postcard fantasy.
Worth noting
The anthology format is both the movie’s biggest strength and its main limitation. A handful of segments stand out sharply, while others feel slight, dry, or over before they’ve found a rhythm. Even so, the overall effect is appealing because the film is built around texture, atmosphere, and the brief spark of human connection.
Bottom line
If you’re open to inconsistency, there’s a lot to enjoy here: a strong sense of place, a few memorable performances, and a pleasantly eclectic range of directorial voices. If you want a single, cohesive romantic drama, this will probably feel too fragmented. But as a sampler of moods and mini-stories, it has real charm.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sofi✨ (3.5★) · 859 likes
conclusion: im definitely studying french. imagine gaspard ulliel telling me im his soulmate and not understanding a word, that can’t happen i won’t let it
nora (2.5★) · 639 likes
steve buscemi in this movie: the mona lisa? what a loser i hate her i- *trips* *thousands of pictures of the mona lisa spill from pockets* fuck those aren’t mine i swear i’m just holding them for a friend i- *slips on a pile of pictures* fu ck no they’re not mine i hate her i just- *more pictures fall out as he falls to his knees, desperately trying to pick them up* hang on a sec jUst LISTEN
eely (4★) · 559 likes
leave it to me to fall head over heels in love with a movie about people falling in love in the city of love don’t you just love love because i do j’aime l’amour bitch
Zegan (3.5★) · 270 likes
1. Montmartre (Bruno Podalydés): 6/10
2. Quas de Seine (Gurinder Chanda): 8/10
3. Le Marais (Gus Van Sant): 6/10
4. Tuileries (Coen Brothers): 7/10
*starring Steve Buscemi
5. Loin Di 16e (Walter & Daniela Thomas): 6/10
6. Porte de Choisy (Christopher Doylo): 6/10
7. Bastille (Isabel Coixet): 7/10
8. Place de Victoires (Nobuhiro Suwa): 8/10
*starring Willem Dafoe and Juliette Binoche
9. Tour Eiffel (Sylvain Chomet): 7/10
10. Parc Monceau (Alfonso Cuarón): 8/10
11. Quartier Des Enfants Rouges (Olivier Assayas): 7/10… more 1. Montmartre (Bruno Podalydés): 6/10
2. Quas de Seine (Gurinder Chanda): 8/10
3. Le Marais (Gus Van Sant): 6/10
4. Tuileries (Coen Brothers): 7/10
*starring Steve Buscemi
5. Loin Di 16e (Walter & Daniela Thomas): 6/10
6. Porte de Choisy (Christopher Doylo): 6/10
7. Bastille (Isabel Coixet): 7/10
8. Place de Victoires (Nobuhiro Suwa): 8/10
*starring Willem Dafoe and Juliette Binoche
9. Tour Eiffel (Sylvain Chomet): 7/10
10. Parc Monceau (Alfonso Cuarón): 8/10
11. Quartier Des Enfants Rouges (Olivier Assayas): 7/10… more
daphne 🐈 (3.5★) · 264 likes
If the short with Natalie Portman was the entire movie then it'd be 10 stars. Even so, this movie shines in a lot of sequences through being tender, but fails in some through flat and boring plot.