Kings and Queen

Critics Consensus

A dryly comic, stylistically brave film.

87%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 60

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 2,841
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Kings and Queen Photos

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Movie Info

Shortly before her wedding, art gallery director Nora (Emmanuelle Devos) travels from Paris to Grenoble to visit her preteen son, Elias, who is spending time with her aging professor father, Louis (Maurice Garrel), recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. During her stay, she reaches out to her former lover, Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), a viola player and father figure to Elias who has been committed against his will to a mental hospital. Ismael, however, has his own problems to sort out.
  • Genre:
    drama, comedy
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Arnaud Desplechin
  • Producer:
    Pascal Caucheteux
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $289.6K
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    France 2 Cinema, Why Not Productions

Cast & Crew

Emmanuelle Devos
Nora Cotterelle
Mathieu Amalric
Ismaël Vuillard
Catherine Deneuve
Mme Vasset
Maurice Garrel
Louis Jenssens
Nathalie Boutefeu
Chloé Jenssens
Jean-Paul Roussillon
Abel Vuillard
Magali Woch
Arielle, la "chinoise"
Hippolyte Girardot
Maître Marc Mamanne
Noémie Lvovsky
Elizabeth
Elsa Wolliaston
Dr. Devereux
Arnaud Desplechin
Director
Roger Bohbot
Writer
Arnaud Desplechin
Writer
Pascal Caucheteux
Producer
Henry Mancini
Original Music
Eric Gautier
Cinematographer
Laurence Briaud
Film Editor
Stéphane Touitou
Casting
Dan Bevan
Production Design
Nathalie Raoul
Costume Designer
Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)

All Critics (60) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (8)

  • It adds up to more than the sum of its parts, but you may not realize it for a day or so.

    October 5, 2019 | Full Review…

    Jonathan Rosenbaum

    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic

  • Desplechin's big, bold, iconoclastic feature Rois et Reine is a disconcerting film that can turn your head at the oddest moments.

    June 30, 2006 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Kate Taylor

    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic

  • Funny, absurd, often mocking itself and always quoting cultural history.

    June 30, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

    Susan Walker

    Toronto Star
    Top Critic

  • Quote not available.

    April 1, 2006 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
    Empire Magazine
    Top Critic

  • While these characters' lives are melodramatic, individual scenes burst with kinetic energy from fast editing and an script that deftly underscores the destructive nature of male-female relationships.

    October 29, 2005 | Rating: A

    Bob Longino

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    Top Critic

  • There's a looseness to the camera work and storytelling that's appealingly breezy: This film feels, for better or worse, like real life.

    August 26, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4

    Moira MacDonald

    Seattle Times
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (60)

Audience Reviews for Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)

  • Feb 27, 2013
    One of the many joys and sadnesses of this necessarily long film are the way in which characters motivations and true feelings are gradually revealed as the film progresses, so that what starts out as a relatively straightforward drama becomes more complex, emotive and absorbing. Two skilled lead performances and two very different, flawed characters (but who basically both want escape) are at the centre of this compelling, funny, moving and truthful piece of cinema.
    Daniel P Super Reviewer
  • Apr 11, 2010
    Pretty interesting return to the screen for Catherine Deneuve in an ensemble piece directed by Arnaud Desplechin. Not familiar with Desplechin's work in the past but this is a good introduction.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Mar 27, 2010
    An interesting film to be sure, and definitely worth a watch. Mathieu Amalric delivers a winning performance that shines above all else. This french melodrama again shines the dark and hidden side of a slice of life; what appears normal isnt and what appears happy and full may be in fact empty and sad. No real winners or losers at film's end except the viewer who will appreciate this rather rich story that has alot of depth and truth.
    alan j Super Reviewer
  • Jun 19, 2005
    [font=Century Gothic]"Kings and Queen" starts out with Nora(Emmanuelle Devos) introducing herself directly to the camera. She is 35, runs an art gallery and has a ten year old son, Elias, by her first husband. The first husband died while she was pregnant. Her second husband, Ismael(Mathieu Amalric), wants to be dead, too, at least judging by the noose hanging over the chair in his apartment when the men in white coats come for him.(And I would like to say I was disappointed that they weren't carrying butterfly nets...Luckily for him, his psychiatriast is played by Catherine Deneuve.) Nora is about to marry husband number three in a couple of weeks. The latest model is unlike the first two - totally rich, responsible and quite boring. On a visit to Grenoble to visit her father and son, Nora learns that her father is dying and has very little time left. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Kings and Queen" is an intelligent, thoughtful movie about growing older, learning responsbility towards taking care of others and what family means. It also makes a point about how we all have an affect on everybody around us, even if we don't realize it. The performances by both Devos and Amalric are superb. [/font]
    Walter M Super Reviewer
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