A lush, provocative, and very cinephile-specific coming-of-age drama with strong atmosphere and memorable performances, but it’s also deliberately indulgent, emotionally slippery, and likely to alienate viewers who are put off by its incestuous undertones and self-conscious eroticism.
The Dreamers
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · Romance
Fri · 1h 55m
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel
Overview
When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.
Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Cast
Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel
Curator Review
Verdict
A lush, provocative, and very cinephile-specific coming-of-age drama with strong atmosphere and memorable performances, but it’s also deliberately indulgent, emotionally slippery, and likely to alienate viewers who are put off by its incestuous undertones and self-conscious eroticism.
Best for
Viewers who like sensual, art-house European drama
People interested in 1960s Paris, student politics, and cinephile references
Fans of boundary-pushing relationship dramas
Audiences who enjoy films that are more mood and provocation than plot
Skip if
You’re uncomfortable with incest themes or sexualized family dynamics
You want a tightly structured or emotionally straightforward story
You dislike characters who are privileged, self-absorbed, or intentionally annoying
You prefer restraint over explicit eroticism and provocation
Overview
Bernardo Bertolucci turns a Paris apartment into a pressure cooker of desire, politics, and movie obsession. The result is seductive and visually elegant, with a strong sense of youth suspended between fantasy and historical upheaval. Michael Pitt, Eva Green, and Louis Garrel make the triangle feel charged even when the film is more interested in atmosphere than narrative momentum.
Worth noting
What makes it memorable is also what makes it divisive: the film is brazen about taboo, flirtation, and emotional immaturity, and it often feels like a private game played by beautiful people who know exactly how cinematic they are. If you respond to that kind of self-aware art-house excess, it can feel intoxicating.
Bottom line
If you need clear moral distance, a cleaner emotional arc, or a less provocative treatment of intimacy, this will probably be a hard pass. But for viewers drawn to erotic European cinema with a strong period texture and a feverish, rebellious mood, it remains a notable watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
lucas (4★) · 11851 likes
i wish it was gayer
gustavo (4.5★) · 6990 likes
imagine if they had a tumblr
Wes (4.5★) · 6525 likes
so french i was inhaling the secondhand smoke from the screen so of course the rating is this high
Spotless (4★) · 6312 likes
Since when cinephiles have that much sex
mel (4★) · 4561 likes
all that sexual tension between matthew and theo and they didn’t get to fuck? i feel betrayed