Peter von Kant (2022) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by cole 1

  Karl The twink was carrying.

• Review by Tomasz Poborca ★★½ 1

  Petra von Can't

• Review by nick ★★★

  François Ozon's second Fassbinder adaptation is a passable effort. It may not hold a candle to the much superior original, but there is definitely intriguing input of ideas and stylish choices on Ozon's part, and Denis Ménochet is mighty enough in this to rival the greatness of Margit Carstensen.

  A rather faithful yet watered-down variation of the original, Peter von Kant turns the lesbian toxic relationship into a gay one, and an intense journey of bitter tears starts from here. It's truly intriguing to examine the reactions of men under the same curse of queer infatuation, all the while at the cost of losing the mesmerizing charm of femininity that makes the original such a classic.

  Ménochet is obviously the standout of the ensemble, channeling Fassbinder himself to portray an entitled, emotionally tormented director whose version of true love is too ideal for the cruel real world. Hanna Schygulla's surprising cameo is also something you don't want to miss.

• Review by Kylo ★★★ 2

  A modest yet entertainingly camp viewing experience. Love is misery. Also, I don’t know who Isabelle Adjani is but she’s fabulous.

• Review by MJsays ★★★½ 1

  Ozon has returned to his campy roots and it’s a welcome return to say in the least. The saturated splashes of colour, the theatrics of queer longing, the cruel sting of self-obsession…ah, what a fun combination. It’s very surface-level stuff, but also unapologetically French, as stylish as hell, and Ménochet really puts on a show worth watching.

• Review by B E R T ★★★★ 3

  How can a movie be so stylish and yet feel so sleazy at the same time? So cool, and classic François Ozon, doing what he does best…GAY!!

  Peter Von Kant is a horrid character, truly I hated him from the first frame he appeared in, but at the same time his eccentricities is what makes the film so entertaining. Towards the end when he’s having his breakdown from heartbreak I did feel for him though, crying on the ground talking to yourself, been there done that, lol. The people around him are what’s to love, his assistant Karl, name another character that has no lines but is such an integral part of the film as much as he is, and shout-out to the divine Isabelle Adjani, who is channeling Julianne Moore in A Single Man, but French, so by default, even more fab.

  85 minutes too? A movie after my own heart.

  That's So Gay List

• Review by Millie De Chirico ★★★★ 4

  Isabelle Adjani trolling a heartbroken and drunken gay man on his birthday while wearing a sparkly jumpsuit - you do the math!

• Review by Ben Peterson ★★★★½ 2

  Karl! Get the cake! Karl, get the tea! Karl write this down! Karl...

  Ozon's loose adaptation of the great R.W. Fassbinder film is every bit as wonderful and beautifully melodramatic. Can be over the top funny and Denis Menochet nails the oafish but also suave and mean protagonist. Great music, great costumes, great set decorating and oh those colors! Isabelle Adjani has a meaty supporting performance which is reason enough to see this as is.

  *John Waters' #1 movie of 2022

• Review by Nina ★★ 2

  On aurait du aller voir les minions

• Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★½ 1

  The camera sees everything.

  Someone gave me the advice not to see R.W. Fassbinder's Beware of a Holy Whore until I had seen more of his films. I did not heed that advice; it was approximately the 4th Fassbinder film I saw and I was lost.

  Peter von Kant is perfect for the Fassbinder aficionado. Director François Ozon made Water Drops on Burning Rocks in 2000 based on an unproduced Fassbinder screenplay. We knew that Ozon appreciated Fassbinder: as a gay man and a cinéaste as well.

  Ozon takes his Fassbinder appreciation to the next level here, imagining Petra in Petra von Kant as a man. And not just any man! "Peter" (Denis Ménochet) reflects R.W. Fassbinder himself and the…

• Review by David Conner ★★★★ 3

  My first thought on leaving the theater was “that was great,” but also kinda in the same way that I thought Gus van Sant’s Psycho was great. With source material like that, you’d have to be a pretty piss poor filmmaker to fuck it up too badly. That might sound a little ungenerous, but, given that Bitter Tears is among my all-time favorite films, it really isn’t. Typically, I like my gay ensemble comedies with all-female casts: Boys in the Band was a lot more fun when it was called The Women, and the appalling new Netflix atrocity, Uncoupled, was a brillion times better when it was called The Golden Girls.

  That said, I do have to give props where…

• Review by jorgemol ★★★★½

  I Want That Twink Obliterated: The Movie