Cléo from 5 to 7
A famous Parisian singer confronts the possibility of terminal illness while a suspended afternoon gradually changes how she sees herself and the world around her.
Overview
A young singer grapples with the weight of impending doom on a summer's day in Paris.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- anxious
- intimate
- melancholic
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Agnès Varda's tightly observed, beautifully filmed portrait of a woman awaiting a possible cancer diagnosis as a landmark of the French New Wave with distinctive narrative and visual sensitivity.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The story follows Cléo across approximately two hours as she waits for her medical results.
Cléo's fears, vanity, social encounters, and changing self-image organize the film's emotional movement.
Cléo's suspected cancer shapes how she interprets songs, strangers, lovers, and everyday Parisian life.
Varda follows Cléo through cafés, shops, studios, parks, and streets with attentive black-and-white location imagery.
Films like Cléo from 5 to 7, and why
Hiroshima mon amour
shared French New Wave innovation, intimate urban observation, and psychologically unsettled protagonist
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
shared real-time structure, female-centered introspection, and minimalist existential drama
Before Sunset
shared day-in-the-life storytelling, Parisian setting, and bittersweet emotional transformation
Movie Details
- Director
- Agnès Varda
- Release Date
- 1962-04-11
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (807)
Cast
- Corinne Marchand
- Antoine Bourseiller
- Dominique Davray
- Dorothée Blanck
- Michel Legrand
- José Luis de Vilallonga
- Loye Payen
- Renée Duchateau
- Lucienne Marchand
- Serge Korber
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- 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 Cléo from 5 to 7 about?
- A famous Parisian singer confronts the possibility of terminal illness while a suspended afternoon gradually changes how she sees herself and the world around her.
- What is Cléo from 5 to 7 like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Cléo from 5 to 7 as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Cléo from 5 to 7 violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Cléo from 5 to 7.
- What did critics think of Cléo from 5 to 7?
- Critics broadly regard Agnès Varda's tightly observed, beautifully filmed portrait of a woman awaiting a possible cancer diagnosis as a landmark of the French New Wave with distinctive narrative and visual sensitivity.
- Which films are like Cléo from 5 to 7?
- Films with a similar feel include Hiroshima mon amour, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, and Before Sunset.
- How long is Cléo from 5 to 7?
- Cléo from 5 to 7 runs 90 minutes.
- Where can I watch Cléo from 5 to 7?
- In United States, Cléo from 5 to 7 streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
