Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” —a full-on cinematic love letter to Godard’s Breathless and the French New Wave—has found an irony-drenched home.
Following its warmly received premiere in competition at Cannes, Netflix has secured U.S. rights in a deal said to be worth $4 million. That figure makes it one of the biggest domestic spends ever for a French-language title—second only to last year’s Emilia Pérez.
This means that Linklater’s last three films — “Apollo 10 1/2,” “Hit Man,” and “Nouvelle Vague” — will have all been bought and distributed by Netflix. If it means anything, Netflix did a terrible job marketing his last two, by all accounts, dumping them into their rabbit hole of an algorithm.
Yes, the very studio that seems determined to drive theatrical releases into extinction has now acquired Linklater’s heartfelt ode to cinema. The irony is bitter, and the whole situation feels grim. It’s not just disappointing—it’s profoundly disheartening.
Early chatter is already placing “Nouvelle Vague” on the outer edges of the awards radar, especially after the positive reviews at Cannes, but man, why must it be Netflix? The streamer is reportedly eyeing a standard awards-qualifying run stateside, likely just the usual two-week window.
The film itself is a metatextual retelling of the “Breathless” backstory, with French actor Guillaume Marbeck stepping into the role of Jean-Luc Godard. Zoey Deutch takes on Jean Seberg, while newcomer Aubry Dullin channels Jean-Paul Belmondo. It’s a who’s-who of Nouvelle Vague legends on screen—expect appearances (and reinterpretations) of Jean Cocteau, Robert Bresson, Rossellini, Varda, Rohmer, and more.
After the success of “Emilia Pérez”—13 Oscar noms, two wins—Netflix seems determined to stay in the international prestige game. Add “Nouvelle Vague” to a growing list of their 2025 hopefuls, alongside “Ballad of a Small Player,” “Frankenstein,” and “Jay Kelly.”