Lost Illusions

Lost Illusions is set in nineteenth-century France and follows Lucien, a young poet from a modest family of printers. He leaves the family printing house behind and goes to Paris, where a noble patron has promised to help him. Once there he finds himself largely on his own, and he comes to see how the worlds of literature, journalism and high society operate, with profit, envy and false appearances governing who succeeds.

Xavier Giannoli directed the film, his sixth feature after Only the Night, Superstar, Marguerite and The Apparition, with Yves Stavrides writing the screenplay. Benjamin Voisin plays Lucien, and the cast includes Cécile de France, Vincent Lacoste, Xavier Dolan, Salomé Dewaels and Jeanne Balibar, among thirty-seven credited performers. It is based on Honoré de Balzac's novel of the same name.

The production, a Belgian and French co-release from Canal+, Gaumont, Ciné+ and Orange Studio, had a budget of about twenty-one million dollars and took roughly nine million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.4 out of 10 from around 7,600 votes, and on TMDB the same 7.4 from roughly 576 votes; critics rated it 7.8 out of 10 from fifty-five reviews.