The Golden Age

The Golden Age

Director: Bérenger Thouin

Cast: Souheila Yacoub, Vassili Schneider, Yile Yara Vianello

Country: France, Italy, 2026.

Runtime: 113 min.

Genre: Drama

Age rating: 16+

Borrowing its title from Buñuel's 1930 film about modern society, Thouin ambitiously intertwines archival and documentary material with fiction filmmaking to trace the “long century” through the life story of an ambitious woman. Described as the French answer to “The Brutalist” (2024), this hybrid film was successfully screened in the Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Jeanne Laverne is born into a turbulent era, but that does not stop her from burning with the desire to become a countess. The girl comes from a butcher's family in the French provinces, and her weapons are intelligence, persistence, and unpredictable luck. By chance, she meets the noble-born Guillaume, and a union forms between them. She becomes what she has always wanted to be. Yet this is only the beginning. The woman's path through love, longing, and change will not only shape her life, but also serve as the manuscript for almost the entire 20th century.

The film is in French with subtitles in Latvian and English.