Lost Illusions (Illusions perdues)

Directed by Xavier Giannoli (France/Belgium, 2021, 149 min.). French with English subtitles.

Winner of seven César awards—including Best Film!

Lucien de Rubempré (César Award winner Benjamin Voisin) arrives in Paris in 1821 as a sensitive young poet determined to write a novel that will make his reputation. Instead, he finds himself swept into journalism, whose influence and reach is booming with the help of the printing press. Under the mentorship of cynical editor Étienne Lousteau (César Award winner Vincent Lacoste), Lucien agrees to write rave theater reviews for bribes, achieving material success at the expense of his conscience. With this sumptuous adaptation of one of Balzac’s greatest novels, Xavier Giannoli crafts a contemporary tale of corruption amid an early form of “fake news.”

“Supremely French.... Lost Illusions is sensational.” —A. O. Scott, New York Times (Critic’s Pick)

"A fast-paced, surprisingly dishy melodrama with at least one spiritual foot in the present. Giannoli... takes what could have been a fussy adaptation of a dusty tome and turns it into something hugely entertaining." —Vulture

Watch the trailer.