Richard Linklater is returning to the roots of modern cinema with “Nouvelle Vague,” a black-and-white, French-language feature that dramatizes the birth of the 1960s French New Wave film movement. The film centers on a young version of famous French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard (played by Guillaume Marbeck) and his muse Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch), with Aubry Dullin as French acting icon Jean-Paul Belmondo.
The film also features Adrien Rouyard, Antoine Besson, Jodie Ruth Forest, Bruno Dreyfürst, Benjamin Clery, and Matthieu Penchinat.
READ MORE: ‘Nouvelle Vague’ Review: Richard Linklater’s Recreation Of The ‘Breathless’ Shoot & What Made Jean-Luc Godard Great [Cannes]
Premiering at Cannes earlier this year, the film earned a lengthy ovation and positioned itself as one of Linklater’s boldest experiments yet. Shot in crisp 4:3 black-and-white by cinematographer David Chambille, with production design from Katia Wyszkop and costumes by Pascaline Chavanne, the project meticulously recreates the texture and feel of 1959 Paris.
READ MORE: Fall Film 2025 Preview: 61 Movies To Watch
In a recent Vanity Fair profile, Zoey Deutch spoke about stepping into Seberg’s shoes, a role she had been eyeing since Linklater first floated the idea nearly a decade ago. Deutch fully embraced the transformation—learning French, cutting her hair, and capturing Seberg’s mix of coolness and fragility.
“I totally fell in love with her,” Deutch says of Seberg. “She was very mysterious, which I feel is the opposite of me—I’m the least mysterious person, and I worried about how to tap into that.” By choosing to film in Paris with a French cast and crew — and committing fully to black-and-white — Linklater created an environment that allowed Deutch to feel directly grounded in the role. “Seberg was learning French while acting in ‘Breathless’ and felt very insecure. That really helped me, because I was also insecure about my French.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
Nouvelle Vague is Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s love letter to the spellbinding magic of French cinema, reimagining the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary Breathless, which ultimately cemented Godard as a pioneer of the French New Wave. As critic-turned-director Godard makes and breaks the rules, a mix of fresh faces and daring talents — including Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Guillaume Marbeck as Godard himself — bring his spontaneous, electric film to life. Capturing the youthful dynamism and creative chaos at the heart of one of the world’s most beloved and influential movies, Nouvelle Vague transports us to the streets of 1959 Paris for an ode to the power of cinema to transform our lives.
And it won’t be the only Linklater film audiences get this year. “Nouvelle Vague” will be his second release of 2025, following “Blue Moon,” a decades-in-the-making project starring Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley already drawing attention on the fall festival circuit.
The film’s supporting creative team includes writers Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo Jr., Michèle Halberstadt, and Laetitia Masson. Producers are Laurent Pétin and Michèle Pétin (Halberstadt), with Catherine Schwartz editing.
Support independent movie journalism to keep it alive. Sign up for The Playlist Newsletter. All the content you want and, oh, right, it’s free.
“Nouvelle Vague” opens in France on October 8, arrives in U.S. theaters on October 31, and lands on Netflix worldwide on November 14. Watch the teaser below.