Overview
A passionate affair unfolds against the backdrop of Parisian elegance and emotional turmoil.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- intimate
- melancholic
- tense
- classic cinema night
- arthouse film evening
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Truffaut’s meticulously observed adultery drama as an increasingly admired, emotionally incisive work despite its deliberately melodramatic conclusion.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Airports, airplanes, hotels, and journeys between Paris, Lisbon, and Reims repeatedly shape Pierre and Nicole's affair.
Pierre hides his affair from Franca and Sabine while attempting to preserve his public career and family household.
Pierre pursues a deeper commitment while Nicole treats the affair more lightly, producing escalating misunderstanding.
The film observes marital secrecy, travel routines, and social appearances before driving them toward a tragic rupture.
Films like The Soft Skin, and why
Jules and Jim
French New Wave romantic drama centered on infidelity, emotional miscommunication, and the collapse of bourgeois domestic life
The Unfaithful Wife
Intimate European adultery drama examining desire, marriage, and self-deception through restrained psychological observation
Brief Encounter
Romantic tragedy about an adulterous relationship, social respectability, and destructive emotional choices
The Green Ray
French relationship drama combining formal precision, bourgeois unease, and painful romantic ambiguity
Movie Details
- Director
- François Truffaut
- Release Date
- 1964-04-20
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (225)
Cast
- Françoise Dorléac
- Jean Desailly
- Nelly Benedetti
- Daniel Ceccaldi
- Laurence Badie
- Philippe Dumat
- Paule Emanuele
- Maurice Garrel
- Sabine Haudepin
- Dominique Lacarrière
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Soft Skin about?
- A respected publisher’s clandestine affair with an air stewardess turns a carefully managed family life into an irreversible romantic tragedy.
- What is The Soft Skin like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Soft Skin as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Soft Skin violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Soft Skin as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Soft Skin?
- Critics broadly regard Truffaut’s meticulously observed adultery drama as an increasingly admired, emotionally incisive work despite its deliberately melodramatic conclusion.
- Which films are like The Soft Skin?
- Films with a similar feel include Jules and Jim, The Unfaithful Wife, Brief Encounter, and The Green Ray.
- How long is The Soft Skin?
- The Soft Skin runs 119 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Soft Skin?
- In United States, The Soft Skin streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max.
