Stephanie Bunbury Deadline Hollywood Daily Sep 16, 2023

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

Go to Full Review

Kathy Fennessy Video Librarian Magazine Oct 1, 2022 4/5

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.

Go to Full Review

Neely Swanson Easy Reader (California) Aug 18, 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.

Go to Full Review

Filipe Freitas Always Good Movies Aug 12, 2022 3/5

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.

Go to Full Review

Jordan Ruimy World of Reel Jul 30, 2022 C

An ambitious adaptation that falls flat

Go to Full Review

Victoria Baena The New York Review of Books Jul 29, 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.”

Go to Full Review

David Walsh World Socialist Web Site Jul 26, 2022 9/10

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.

Go to Full Review

Michael Wood London Review of Books Jul 22, 2022

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

Go to Full Review

Jane Freebury The Canberra Times (Australia) Jul 15, 2022 5/5

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

Go to Full Review

John McDonald Australian Financial Review Jul 9, 2022

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

Go to Full Review

Steve Davis Austin Chronicle Jul 7, 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.

Go to Full Review

Noëlle D. Lilley Chicago Reader Jul 1, 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.

Go to Full Review

Christopher Llewellyn Reed Film Festival Today Jul 1, 2022 2.5/4

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.

Go to Full Review

Kelly Vance East Bay Express Jun 30, 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.

Go to Full Review

Neal Pollack Book & Film Globe Jun 29, 2022 5/5

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

Go to Full Review

Sarah Ward Concrete Playground 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.

Go to Full Review

Pat Padua Washington Post Jun 28, 2022 3.5/4

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.

Go to Full Review

Peter Canavese Celluloid Dreams Jun 28, 2022 3.5/4

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.

Go to Full Review

Asher Luberto The Playlist Jun 25, 2022 B+

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.

Go to Full Review

Todd Jorgenson Cinemalogue Jun 24, 2022

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

Go to Full Review