Farewell, My Queen Reviews

Jacquot's lavish décor and costumes are like the perfume the women use instead of bathing: They may cover up the willful carelessness at the center of the project, but it's still there.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

A well-observed but emotionally muted costume drama.

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Farewell, My Queen was shot in Versailles, but its flat schematism only highlights that the backdrops had a better story to tell.

Full Review | Original Score: C

The experience of watching it is something like lounging on a satin divan, being fanned lazily with a bouquet of ostrich plumes.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10

Beniot Jacquot [...] compliments immersive storytelling with a cast full of painstakingly authentic performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

By the time Seydoux realizes what's in store for her and her queen, we're almost as surprised as she is.

Full Review | Original Score: B+

Jacquot takes a refreshingly understated approach to costume drama, avoiding historical generalizations to focus on the particulars of palace life and the psychological states of individual characters.

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Control is the operative element in Benoît Jacquot's work, with the main caveat being that when someone has it, someone else does not.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

The foreboding and chaos contrast neatly with the lavish costumes and sets.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

History doesn't let us feel much sympathy for Marie Antoinette. But "Farewell, My Queen" almost has us rooting for her and those who love her by its finale.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Benoit Jacquot's engrossing film tells a story we know well, seen from a point of view we may not have considered.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

It's a strangely unsatisfying combination of bloodless observations and unresolved sexuality. But Diane Kruger's queen, a mature beauty mourning the loss of her youth, is a vivid portrait of willfulness, childishness and genuine neediness.

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The complex triangle at the dark heart of his film, set against the surging social change of a nation, makes for both a superb historical epic and a compelling human drama.

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As a portrait of a world ending, it's frequently compelling stuff.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Filmmaker Jacquot has always had a knack for directing actresses, and both Seydoux and Kruger luxuriate in the end-of-an-era-ness.

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This movie blows away the dust of history to present a vivid, richly detailed account of life in the cocoon of the royal palace of the ancient régime before the Revolution.

Full Review | Original Score: 7

With attractively costumed actors and a no-expenses-spared approach, the movie is the closest we'll get to experiencing Versailles alongside the queen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

Sexy, refreshing, well-acted and consistently compelling. It offers much more to offer than just beautiful set and costume design.

Full Review | Original Score: 9.16/10

If you have a thing for French royalty, this is an intriguing new take.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The period detail is exquisite, and the motivations and emotions of the characters need no translation for the modern viewer.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

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