‘Nouvelle Vague’ trailer: Richard Linklater pays tribute to Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave

With his upcoming film Nouvelle Vague, director Richard Linklater (Hit Man, Boyhood) transports viewers to Paris in 1959, amid the beginnings of the French New Wave film movement. Major figures in the movement included Cahiers du Cinéma film critics-turned-directors François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, and Jean-Luc Godard.

While Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague is an ode to the entire French New Wave, he’s focused on one film in particular: Godard’s first feature, 1960’s Breathless. Nouvelle Vague reimagines the making of this iconic filmfrom Godard’s (Guillaume Marbeck) initial aspirations to direct to the casting of American actor Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch).

Written by Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo, with French adaptation by Michèle Halberstadt and Laetitia Masson, Nouvelle Vague had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May. It received positive reactions from critics, who praised Linklater’s earnest homage to the French New Wave.

Nouvelle Vague is not Linklater’s only project to be coming out in 2025. In addition to his ode to Godard, Linklater is also releasing Blue Moon, which reunites him with frequent collaborator Ethan Hawke. Hawke plays Lorenz Hart, songwriter and former creative partner of Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame. The biopic, which premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and went on to play at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, received critical acclaim. However, Mashable’s Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko felt differently, calling the film “insufferable” in her review, while also noting that “Andrew Scott is the best part.”

How will Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague measure up to his other 2025 film?

Nouvelle Vague hits select theaters Oct. 31 before coming to Netflix Nov. 14.