I’m a lifelong cinephile, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I had never gotten around to watching a film by Jean-Luc Godard. The French-Swiss filmmaker, well-known as one of the pioneers of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, has been on my watch list for a long time, but another filmmaker gave me the nudge I needed to finally sit down and watch my first Godard film. I was so intrigued by Richard Linklater’s (Before Sunset; A Scanner Darkly) Nouvelle Vague (2025), which follows Godard as he shoots his first feature film, Breathless (1960), that I watched it immediately after Linklater’s film, and I loved it. It’s impressive that Nouvelle Vague is reportedly historically accurate to the real-life anarchic production of Breathless and it’s uncanny how closely the actors in Linklater’s film resemble the actors in Godard’s film. Featuring clever writing and an incredible cast, Nouvelle Vague delightfully captures Godard’s rebellious, often unpredictable, directing style, which is endlessly fascinating to watch.
Guillaume Marbeck as Jean Luc Godard in NOUVELLE VAGUE. Photo courtesy of Netflix. 2025 © All Rights Reserved / Visa d’exploitation n 161532 Dépôt Légal 2025.
Literally translated from French to English, Nouvelle Vague means “new wave” and, in cinema, refers to the French New Wave film movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s led by directors like Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless), François Truffaut (The 400 Blows), Claude Chabrol (La Cérémonie), and Jacques Rivette (Céline and Julie Go Boating). These directors started out as passionate film critics for the Parisian film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma and rejected mainstream French cinema in favor of the experimental art films they wanted to make. By 1959, Godard had watched several of his fellow film critics at Cahiers du Cinéma transition into directing and, having only made a short film, he desperately wanted to make a feature-length film.
L-R: Guillaume Marbeck as Jean Luc Godard and Aubry Dullin as Jean-paul Belmond in NOUVELLE VAGUE. Photo Credit: Jean-Louis Fernandez. Photo courtesy of Netflix. 2025 © All Rights Reserved / Visa d’exploitation n 161532 Dépôt Légal 2025.
Written by Holly Gent (Where’d You Go, Bernadette), Vincent Palmo Jr. (Where’d You Go, Bernadette), and Michèle Pétin (Murderous Maids), and directed by Linklater, Nouvelle Vague begins in 1959 with Godard, played impeccably by Guillaume Marbeck (Couture), always wearing sunglasses, telling French film producer Georges de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfürst) that a film he produced is shit. Instead of getting angry, de Beauregard hires Godard to write a script, which he never completes, instead persuading the producer to fund and produce his first feature film, inspired by real-life criminal Michel Portail who stole a car, and his American journalist girlfriend. The dialogue in Nouvelle Vague is almost entirely in French and the black and white cinematography feels as though you are watching a documentary on Godard, much like the filmmaker’s directing style.
L-R from center: Guillaume Marbeck as Jean Luc Godard, Aubry Dullin as Jean-paul Belmondo, and Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg in NOUVELLE VAGUE. Photo courtesy of Netflix. 2025 © All Rights Reserved / Visa d’exploitation n 161532 Dépôt Légal 2025.
Having worked with actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, played consummately by Aubry Dullin (Feu à volonté), on a short film, Godard hires him to play the title role of Michel Poiccard in his film. When he meets American actress Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) through her husband, he hires her to play Michel’s girlfriend, Patricia Franchini, even though Seberg really wants to work on a Truffaut film. Godard tells Seberg he wants her role in his film to be a continuation of her role in Bonjour Tristesse (1958) and he wants her to do all the same mannerisms. Already nervous about working with Godard because she knows nothing about him, Seberg is not thrilled when Godard doesn’t give the cast a script. No planning, no script, and Godard only films one scene on the first day of shooting. Seberg eventually asks Godard if he is just making everything up as he goes along, if that is how he directs, and the rest of the cast laughs. Her comment seems to have no effect on Godard because the rest of the production is chaotic, with Godard wanting to do everything spontaneously, much to the disdain of the cast. Godard hires cameraman Raoul Coutard (Matthieu Penchinat) and, when he wants to shoot in a public place without a permit, he casually has Coutard hide in a mail cart and film through a hole in the side of the cart. This is just how Godard works, by the seat of his pants.
Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg in NOUVELLE VAGUE. Photo courtesy of Netflix. 2025 © All Rights Reserved / Visa d’exploitation n 161532 Dépôt Légal 2025.
Nouvelle Vague features a curated jazzy/pop score, using period-appropriate tracks from the 1950s to give the film an authentic feel and it works. Cinematographer David Chambille (Invisibles, L’Opéra) shot in black and white 35 mm film and used the same handheld Cameflex camera model employed by Breathless cinematographer Raoul Coutard, shot in the Academy ratio, complete with faux cigarette burns. With Nouvelle Vague, Linklater has seemingly done the impossible and resurrected Godard and the cast and crew of Breathless. The resemblances to the original actors are impressive.
Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg in NOUVELLE VAGUE. Photo courtesy of Netflix. 2025 © All Rights Reserved / Visa d’exploitation n 161532 Dépôt Légal 2025.
Zoey Deutch (Not Okay; Juror #2) gives an exquisitely believable and nuanced performance as Jean Seberg, who wants to quit Breathless because of Godard’s erratic directing style, but is convinced to continue working on the film by her husband. Guillaume Marbeck perfectly portrays the essence of Godard as a stubborn, experimental director, who often blindsided his cast and crew. It’s amazing Godard ever completed a film, but Breathless was wildly successful, along with the French New Wave, and is now considered one of the most influential films ever made. Godard’s directing style remains captivating and Linklater marvelously showcases this with Nouvelle Vague.
L-R: Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg and and Guillaume Marbeck as Jean Luc Godard in NOUVELLE VAGUE. Photo Credit: Jean-Louis Fernandez. Photo courtesy of Netflix. 2025 © All Rights Reserved / Visa d’exploitation n 161532 Dépôt Légal 2025.
Fellow cinephiles will be sad to learn that Via Vision’s Blu-ray release of Nouvelle Vague contains zero special features. Only the theatrical trailer is included. Despite the lack of special features, Nouvelle Vague looks and sounds superb.
Limited U.S. theatrical release October 31st, 2025.
Premiered on Netflix on November 14th, 2025.
Available on Blu-ray April 8th, 2026.
For more information, head to the Via Vision Entertainment Nouvelle Vague webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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