Overview
A man's identity unravels when a simple act of shaving leads to a surreal crisis.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- unsettling
- intimate
- cerebral
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an intelligent, unsettling French psychological mystery whose ambiguity and performances outweigh its deliberately opaque construction.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Marc’s removed mustache becomes the concrete trigger for conflicting versions of his identity and history.
Marc’s conversations with Agnès transform an ordinary marriage into a site of radical uncertainty.
The film repeatedly leaves open whether Marc is imagining events or inhabiting an altered reality.
The bath, home, dinner, and workplace become alienating environments after others deny Marc’s remembered appearance.
Films like The Moustache, and why
The Double Life of Véronique
psychological identity crisis, marital estrangement, and destabilized reality
Caché
French psychological mystery with ambiguous reality and existential unease
Mulholland Drive
identity instability, surreal uncertainty, and fractured psychological perspective
The Passenger
marriage, memory, and reality rendered through an unsettling literary art-film lens
Movie Details
- Director
- Emmanuel Carrère
- Release Date
- 2005-06-09
- Runtime
- 86 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (125)
Cast
- Vincent Lindon
- Emmanuelle Devos
- Mathieu Amalric
- Hippolyte Girardot
- Cylia Malki
- Macha Polikarpova
- Fantine Camus
- Frédéric Imberty
- Brigitte Bémol
- Denis Ménochet
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, OVID, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Moustache about?
- A man’s impulsive decision to shave his mustache turns an ordinary marriage into an unnerving crisis of identity and reality.
- What is The Moustache like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Moustache as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Moustache violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Moustache.
- What did critics think of The Moustache?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an intelligent, unsettling French psychological mystery whose ambiguity and performances outweigh its deliberately opaque construction.
- Which films are like The Moustache?
- Films with a similar feel include The Double Life of Véronique, Caché, Mulholland Drive, and The Passenger.
- How long is The Moustache?
- The Moustache runs 86 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Moustache?
- In United States, The Moustache streams on Amazon Prime Video, OVID, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
