SummaryThe tumultuous political landscape of Paris in 1968 is the backdrop as three young cineastes are drawn together through their passion for film. Matthew, an American exchange student, discovers in French twins Theo and Isabelle a relationship unlike anything he has ever experienced or will ever encounter again -- and he longs to be a part of it. (... Read More
Directed By:Bernardo Bertolucci
Written By:Gilbert Adair
The Dreamers
Metascore
Generally Favorable
63
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
63
57% Positive
23 Reviews
23 Reviews
38% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
100
The Dreamers is a real humdinger, at once an intimate romance, a glimpse into a rather unconventional friendship and a beautifully focused celebration of cinema itself.
80
The Dreamers, which is disarmingly sweet and completely enchanting, fuses sexual discovery with political tumult by means of a heady, heedless romanticism that nearly obscures the film's patient, skeptical intelligence.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
67% Positive
89 Ratings
89 Ratings
19% Mixed
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
14% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
Jan 22, 2026
10
The rhythmic machinery of a cinematic rebellion: A 5.0-star sensational surge of raw, high-tension cinephile grit.2013(5.0)I watched The Dreamers (2003) in 2013, and it remains a vivid 5.0-star pillar of shwi-shwi bohemian brilliance in my archive—a raw revelation of how a sensational Bertolucci vision can dismantle the stagnant, "polite" expectations of youth with pure, erotic precision. This experience **** the fourth wall of the romantic genre by infusing Isabelle’s raw, bbo-jjak yet fatalistic elegance and Theo’s sensational, chewy rebellious wit into a narrative rhythm that felt 100% sophisticated and soulful. The narrative rhythm was far from stagnant; instead, it offered a sensational acting power show where the raw, high-tension re-enactments of classic films and the hororong, barricade-breaking spirit of May 1968 Paris left me in a state of absolute awe at its visceral soul. Much like Alice in Wonderland (2013, 5.0) or Fantastic Planet (2013, 5.0), the theme of an isolated, vivid world of madness hit my taste perfectly, piercing my heart with its raw, rhythmic transcendence. Seeing the vivid, lush Parisian interiors and the raw, high-tension "three-way" bond provided an emotional payoff that felt both authentic and sensational, proving that a story about "film, politics, and desire" could be a vivid artifact of pure cinematic rebellion. The 95% preservation of my memory is dominated by the rhythmic, raw beauty of the Louvre run and the vivid but pathetic intrusion of the real world via a paving stone through the window, creating a permanent, sensational scar of high-tension wonder on my soul. Unlike the stagnant 3.0-star drift of Transparent, this encounter possessed a rebellious soul that turned a pathetic apartment seclusion into a sensational masterpiece of artistic obsession. It stands in my 2013 record as a powerful 5.0-star testament to the raw power of the "Dreamers"—a high-tension encounter with the vivid rhythm of the Cinémathèque that remains the most chewy artifact of my cinematic journey.
Jul 25, 2025
9
An outstanding film because Bertolucci succeeds in portraying the "Sturm und Drang" period of three young people in Paris, almost incidentally reflecting repeatedly on the events of the 1968 riots. His view of the younger generation is both sensitive and unsparing. Bertolucci doesn't care about taboos and refuses to be forced into any norms. The recurring reference to old film clips as a homage to cinema is very well placed and makes the film a successful work of art.
70
By equal measure tragic and hopeful, it is both a love song to escapism and a warm embrace of the real world.
63
As the threesome's movie games push them into an incestuous menage a trois, the movie loses its grip.
60
It seesaws between disturbing psychosis and freewheeling nouvelle vague romance, then turns awkwardly editorial in the last reel.
50
The film's real failure is that neither the story nor the characters capture the zeitgeist that Bertolucci theoretically set out to celebrate.
25
A miracle of badness, a kind of art- house "Showgirls" -- which actually exceeds "Showgirls" in its self-indulgence, shallowness and sheer stupidity.
Aug 24, 2018
5
After watching this movie I got the feeling that the strongest point of it is the participation of Eva Green, in her first movie by coincidence. The whole story is about three young students who are in Paris: two are French and are brothers, the third is an American and is doing an exchange to learn the country's language. Chemistry between them is intensified by their interest by cinema. From then on, the film beggins a series of debates (a little insipid to normal public but curious to the experts and movie-goers) about cinema, with cameos and tributes to several films and actors. Here, sometimes, its necessary to know cinema and to have some cinematic culture in order to follow everything. Then, as the events of May '68 take place, the three are getting more and more intimately involved. Sex is a structural part of the story from the beginning, its introduced very well by the sensuality and eroticism of Eva Green and isn't ugly or sinful, as in many films usually ends up becoming. However, full nudity scenes are many, can hurt sensibilities of more modest audiences and advise discretion before watch the movie. This film is about revolutions, hopes, yearnings, dreams, sex and cinema. Everything is mixed, everything is a vehicle for dreaming, for the estrangement of reality. But if it weren't for the absolutely fantastic performance of Eva Green, seductive, strong and mysterious, the film would not have half the interest or quality it has.
Dec 3, 2022
3
Such a boring movie. I don't see how for someone it is considered a, masterpiece!
May 20, 2018
3
Not a fan at all of this alternative types of movies. It has no point, and it's too much for my stomach.
Jan 2, 2017
1
Un jeune Américain à Paris pendant mai 68 qui rencontre un couple de siamois (un frère et sa soeur) au bord de l'inceste. Putain. Férus de cinéma intello-ringard, ces **** bourgeois feraient bien la révolution eux aussi -parce que cela semble amusant- en criant "mort aux fachos", mais se comportent en vérité comme des ados **** qui jouent à touche-pipi en citant des répliques de vieux films. Forcément érotique, car Eva Green est de la partie (fine) et paie et trimbale ses lourds attributs... malheureusement, cela n'a rien de particulièrement joli ni émoustillant puisque la vulgarité est tutoyée d'un peu trop près à de nombreuses reprises. Le seul intérêt potentiel étant tombé dans le caniveau, nous sommes fort dépités devant cet étalage d'imbécillités estudiantines (de gauche très vraisemblablement) aussi peu engageant que futile.
Production Company:
- Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
- Fiction
- Peninsula Films
- HanWay Films
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Medusa Film
- Tele+
Release Date:Feb 6, 2004
Duration:1 h 55 m
Rating:NC-17
Tagline:Bertolucci returns to politics & sex.
Awards
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
• 3 Nominations
Golden Ciak Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
European Film Awards
• 2 Nominations
