Overview
A surreal journey through the many lives of a mysterious man, each more bizarre than the last.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Moderate
- kaleidoscopic
- witty
- eerie
- arthouse film night
- late night viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a mesmerizing, visually inventive, boldly experimental work whose challenging narrative rewards surrender to its strangeness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Monsieur Oscar repeatedly adopts radically different personas during a single day despite the apparent absence of cameras.
Denis Lavant's character moves from banker and beggar to father, assassin, monster, and accordionist.
The white limousine functions as Oscar's mobile dressing room, transit space, and backstage environment across Paris.
The film abruptly moves among grotesque, musical, violent, comic, and mournful episodes without settling into conventional realism.
Films like Holy Motors, and why
Being John Malkovich
shared surrealist identity shifts, theatrical self-performance, and playful uncertainty about reality
Synecdoche, New York
shared formally experimental structure, metafictional anxieties, and performers inhabiting unstable identities
The Lobster
shared deadpan absurdism, speculative social performance, and unsettling transformations of everyday life
Mulholland Drive
shared dreamlike urban strangeness, fragmented identities, and open-ended cinematic symbolism
Movie Details
- Director
- Leos Carax
- Release Date
- 2012-07-02
- Runtime
- 116 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (1305)
Cast
- Denis Lavant
- Édith Scob
- Eva Mendes
- Kylie Minogue
- Élise Lhomeau
- Jeanne Disson
- Michel Piccoli
- Leos Carax
- Nastya Golubeva Carax
- Reda Oumouzoune
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, Fandor, Sundance Now, Fandor Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Holy Motors about?
- A limousine-bound performer crosses Paris through a succession of uncanny identities, turning one workday into a delirious meditation on cinema and being human.
- What is Holy Motors like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Holy Motors as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Holy Motors violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Holy Motors as moderate.
- What did critics think of Holy Motors?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a mesmerizing, visually inventive, boldly experimental work whose challenging narrative rewards surrender to its strangeness.
- Which films are like Holy Motors?
- Films with a similar feel include Being John Malkovich, Synecdoche, New York, The Lobster, and Mulholland Drive.
- How long is Holy Motors?
- Holy Motors runs 116 minutes.
- Where can I watch Holy Motors?
- In United States, Holy Motors streams on Philo, Fandor, Sundance Now, Fandor Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
