🎬Nouvelle Vague (2025) Movie Review: Cast, Plot & Where to Watch — Richard Linklater’s Tribute to French Cinema’s Wildest Revolution 🎞️✨

Now streaming on Netflix (from November 14, 2025)

“Cinema isn’t dead — it’s reborn in every generation brave enough to break its rules.”

Few directors could capture the restless, rule-breaking spirit of 1950s French cinema like Richard Linklater, and with Nouvelle Vague (2025), the American auteur behind Boyhood and Before Sunrise crafts a love letter to the movement that changed movies forever.

Premiered to an 11-minute standing ovation at Cannes, Nouvelle Vague blends fact, fiction, and feverish nostalgia into a visually stunning recreation of how Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless came to life — and how it changed the world.

🌟 The Story: When Art Became Rebellion

Set in Paris, 1959, the film follows the young and radical Jean-Luc Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) as he directs his debut feature, À bout de souffle (Breathless) — a film that would ignite the French New Wave and redefine cinema itself.

By his side are:

🎥 Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) — the free-spirited American actress whose innocence and mystery made her immortal.

🎭 Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) — the magnetic star whose swagger embodied a new cinematic masculinity.

“Cinema should be like life — unpredictable, imperfect, alive,” Godard says in one of the film’s standout scenes.

Through arguments, cigarette smoke, long takes, and handheld chaos, Linklater recreates the moment when French cinema stopped being polite and started being revolutionary.

🎞️ The Direction: Linklater’s Ode to the Art of Making Art

Linklater has always been obsessed with time, truth, and transformation, and Nouvelle Vague continues that fascination.

Rather than a dry biopic, he gives us a meta-cinematic experience — the making of a film within a film, filled with humor, ego, romance, and improvisation.

He films in grainy 35mm with vintage lenses, mimicking the kinetic style of Godard’s early work — jump cuts, whispered dialogue, jazz-scored chaos, and glances that say more than monologues ever could.

Every frame feels like it’s alive, pulsing with the nervous energy of an artist unsure if his creation will change the world — or destroy him.

“Linklater doesn’t imitate Godard; he converses with him,” wrote ScreenDaily’s Lee Marshall, calling the film “a nostalgic tribute to a time and place of extraordinary creative ferment.”

🎭 Performances: When Actors Become Icons

Actor	Role	Performance Highlights
Guillaume Marbeck	Jean-Luc Godard	Sharp, restless, and charismatic — a career-defining turn.
Zoey Deutch	Jean Seberg	Delicate and tragic, she captures Seberg’s innocence and inner storm.
Aubry Dullin	Jean-Paul Belmondo	Effortlessly cool, embodying rebellion and sensual charm.
Roxane Rivière	Agnès Varda	A poetic cameo that anchors the story in its feminine energy.
Adrien Rouyard	François Truffaut	The tension and affection between Godard and Truffaut crackle onscreen.

Deutch, in particular, shines — earning the Breakthrough Performance Award at the 2025 Savannah Film Festival for her soulful portrayal of Seberg.

🏆 Festival Buzz & Critical Reception

After debuting at Cannes 2025, Nouvelle Vague instantly became one of the festival’s darlings — not just for cinephiles, but for anyone who’s ever loved the romance of making movies.

📈 Rotten Tomatoes: 90% (97 reviews)

⭐ Metacritic: 76/100 (“Generally Favorable”)

Critics Consensus:

“Seamlessly recreating one of cinema’s most groundbreaking productions, Nouvelle Vague doesn’t reinvent the medium the way its subjects did — but it pays tribute to their accomplishment with infectious admiration.”

It later screened at the Rome Film Festival in the Best of 2025 section and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

📅 Release & Streaming Details — Where to Watch

🎞️ Title: Nouvelle Vague

🎬 Director: Richard Linklater

🗓️ World Premiere: May 17, 2025 (Cannes Film Festival)

🇫🇷 France Release: October 8, 2025 (ARP Sélection)

🇺🇸 U.S. Theatrical Run: October 31, 2025 (Awards-qualifying release)

🌐 Streaming: Netflix — from November 14, 2025

🌍 Available in:United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Latin America, and other territories where Netflix is available.

💡 Tip: Turn on subtitles — much of the dialogue switches fluidly between French and English, reflecting the cultural mix of 1950s Paris.

🎨 Themes & Cinematic DNA

Linklater uses the love triangle between Godard, Seberg, and Belmondo as a metaphor for the creative rebellion that defined the Nouvelle Vague movement.

🔥 Themes explored:

• The tension between art and commerce.

• The loneliness of genius.

• The thin line between love, control, and obsession.

• The birth of cinema’s modern language.

Every shot feels like a tribute — to cigarettes in cafés, lovers in alleyways, and the belief that movies could still change the world.

🖋️ The Verdict: 9/10 ★ — “A Love Letter to Cinema Itself”

With Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater doesn’t just direct a film — he resurrects a moment in time.

It’s romantic, cerebral, and visually intoxicating. It may not be as radical as the films it honors, but it doesn’t need to be — because its power lies in reverence, not rebellion.

If you’ve ever fallen in love with movies — truly fallen — this is one you’ll feel deep in your soul.

🎥 “Cinema isn’t about truth. It’s about the beauty of trying to find it.” — Jean-Luc Godard

❓ Nouvelle Vague (2025) — FAQ

Q1. When was Nouvelle Vague released?

It premiered at Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2025, was released theatrically in France on October 8, and began streaming on Netflix on November 14, 2025.

Q2. Who stars in Nouvelle Vague?

The film stars Guillaume Marbeck as Jean-Luc Godard, Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, and Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Q3. Where can I watch Nouvelle Vague?

Stream it globally on Netflix from November 14, 2025.

Q4. What is Nouvelle Vague about?

It chronicles the making of Breathless (1959), the defining film of the French New Wave, and explores the passion, chaos, and artistry behind it.

Q5. Did Nouvelle Vague win awards?

It was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and earned Zoey Deutch a Breakthrough Performance Award at the Savannah Film Festival.

🎞️ Final Thoughts: The Spirit of Cinema Reborn

Nouvelle Vague is not just a film — it’s an act of cinematic resurrection. It reminds us why we fell in love with movies in the first place: because they capture time, emotion, and dreams that refuse to fade.

So whether you’re a film student, a Godard admirer, or just a fan of stories about art and passion, this is one film you can’t miss.

📺 Stream Nouvelle Vague now on Netflix — and fall in love with cinema all over again. ❤️‍🔥