IMDb 6.9 1981 HD

The French Lieutenant’s Woman

The French Lieutenant’s Woman

1981
Drama History Romance
124 min R USA
6.441 / 10
6.9 IMDB

In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are…

Personnel // Cast & Crew

Director Karel Reisz / Richard Hoult / Peter Kohn / Mathew Simmons / Paul Tivers
Starring
Meryl Streep / Jeremy Irons / Hilton McRae / Lynsey Baxter / Emily Morgan / Penelope Wilton / Jean Faulds / Charlotte Mitchell

How Viewers Describe This Film

Common themes and sentiments

compelling sophisticated romantic intellectual dramatic nuanced thought-provoking ambitious layered passionate complex intriguing

Reviews

C
Clara Jenkins
May 23, 2026
4.5 / 5
4.5

A truly remarkable film that plays with perception and reality, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" is a triumph of storytelling. The dual narrative, focusing on a passionate period romance and the actors caught in their own web of desire,…

R
Rupert Davies
May 23, 2026
4.0 / 5
4.0

"The French Lieutenant's Woman" is a film that lingers long after the credits roll, primarily due to its daring structural conceit. By weaving the story of a fictional forbidden love with the real-life entanglements of the actors portraying…

B
Beatrice Holloway
May 23, 2026
3.5 / 5
3.5

While ambitious in its concept, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" occasionally feels more like an intellectual exercise than a purely emotional journey. The meta-narrative, where the filming of a period romance mirrors the actors' own developing affair, is intriguing.…

A
Arthur Pendelton
May 23, 2026
4.0 / 5
4.0

This is a film that trusts its audience to engage with its intricate structure. "The French Lieutenant's Woman" presents a story within a story, exploring the forbidden love of Sarah and Charles through the lens of the actors,…

E
Eleanor Vance
May 23, 2026
4.5 / 5
4.5

A masterclass in narrative ambition, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" is a film that dares to be different. It cleverly juxtaposes a sweeping Victorian romance with the very contemporary struggles of its actors, Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Their…

FAQs

The film's genius lies in its depiction of how the intense, forbidden love between Sarah and Charles, characters in the period drama, bleeds into the real lives of the actors, Anna and Mike. As they portray this passionate, illicit romance, their own existing relationships are tested. The audience witnesses the undeniable chemistry between the actors, mirroring their characters' passion, and the ethical quandaries they face as their off-camera affair develops, making for a deeply compelling human drama.