It may not be innovative, but it is certainly grand.

| Sep 16, 2023

Students of French history and literature, particularly the post-Napoleonic/Bourbon Restoration era and the works of Honoré Balzac, are likely to find Lost Illusions of interest.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 1, 2022

Xavier Giannoli’s truly sumptuous adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s novel Lost Illusions is prescient, modern, and yet thoroughly grounded in its time.

| Aug 18, 2022

Anchoring his period drama with a killer cast, Giannoli expresses his desire to mix lyrical and satirical spark, but he draws the film out and comes nowhere near Balzac’s serial novel.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 12, 2022

An ambitious adaptation that falls flat

| Original Score: C | Jul 30, 2022

Filmed on location with a star-studded cast (several of whom have acted in other Balzac adaptations), the film takes evident delight in its portrait of what Walter Benjamin called the “capital of the nineteenth century.”

| Jul 29, 2022

Giannoli and Fieschi ... have attempted to absorb Balzac’s novel as a whole, retain its essential structure and gist, while rewriting the actual dialogue, reworking individual situations and changing certain characterizations.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 26, 2022

It’s notable that this nastiness is really interesting, because in the context that Giannoli is creating, anything that moves is interesting.

| Jul 22, 2022

An immensely satisfying combination of playful tone, vitality, irreverent wit and fine performances make this sumptuous period drama as outstanding as it is modern, and relevant to the media and its influencers in the world today

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 15, 2022

In this world, all professions seem to be forms of prostitution.

| Jul 9, 2022

The only way to avoid a disastrous debut is to shell out a higher fee to the provocateur in return for applause and a standing ovation... Lost Illusions deserves this rave simply based on its commendable merits.

| Jul 7, 2022

Xavier Giannoli’s film is hilarious and always moving with vivid colors and rapid-fire narration that in another movie might feel heavy-handed but here is a guiding force that gives a fascinating quasi-history lesson.

| Jul 1, 2022

Had Lousteau been the protagonist, the narrative would have sharper bite. As it is, it entertains, though we see Lucien’s downfall coming from far away, telegraphed as it is from the start.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 1, 2022

After sitting through a seemingly endless parade of listless Downton Abbey-style costumed dramas, it’s a relief to observe the incisive wit of Lost Illusions. Balzac’s lively commentary has meaning for 21st-century audiences after all.

| Jun 30, 2022

"One of the best movie adaptations of a classic novel ever made."

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 29, 2022

It takes an immensely special talent to spin a story like this, where every moment is so perceptive and each piece of minutiae echoes so resoundingly.

| Jun 29, 2022

Lost Illusions vividly depicts a time when life was more hands-on, when writing with pen and ink stained the skin and disgruntled audiences hurled actual rotten tomatoes at performers.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 28, 2022

Both an impressive film and a breaking down of Restoration art and commerce--and fake news. Well acted and beautifully filmed with energizing narration. A winner all the way.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 28, 2022

Illusions Preludes is the kind of novel that doesn't get written very often, and when it does, rarely gets transferred to the screen with the kind of intensity and devotion we find here.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 25, 2022

With the dramatic heft to support its resplendent visuals, this French costume drama is a richly textured epic that yields a fresh resonance.

| Jun 24, 2022