''Holy Motors'' is a 2012

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and directed by

Leos Carax Alex Christophe Dupont (born 22 November 1960), best known as Leos Carax (), is a French film director, critic and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was '' Boy Meets Girl'' (198 ...

and starring

Denis Lavant Denis Lavant (born 17 June 1961) is a French actor. He is known for his distinctive face and the physically demanding aspects of the roles he plays, which often involve slapstick, acrobatics or dance, as well as for his long-standing association w ...

and

Édith Scob Édith Scob (21 October 1937 – 26 June 2019) was a French film and theatre actress, best known for her role as the daughter with a disfigured face in '' Eyes Without a Face'' (1960). Early life and family Scob was born Édith Helena Vladimirov ...

. Lavant plays Mr. Oscar, a man who appears to have a job as an actor, as he is seen dressing up in different costumes and performing various roles in several locations around Paris over the course of a day, though no cameras or audiences are ever seen around him. The film competed for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard sectio ...

Plot

A man wakes up and finds a secret door in his apartment. He opens it and wanders into a movie theater full of sleeping patrons. A naked child and several dogs wander the aisles. Meanwhile, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, a rich man waves goodbye to his family and gets into a white limousine. His driver, Céline, calls him Mr. Oscar and tells him he has nine appointments that day. He reads a file, uncovers a mirror, and begins to brush a grey wig. Over the course of the day, he: * plays an old woman beggar on the

Pont Alexandre III The Pont Alexandre III is a deck arch bridge that spans the Seine in Paris. It connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the ci ...

. * dons a

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

suit and enters an empty

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

, where he performs action sequences while being directed by an unseen man. A woman in a motion capture suit enters, and the pair perform movements that are used to create a sex scene between animated snakelike creatures. * plays the role of Monsieur Merde, an eccentric and violent red-haired man who lives in the sewers and kidnaps a beautiful model called Kay M. from a photo shoot in a cemetery. * plays a father who picks up his daughter from a party in an old red car. They argue when the daughter reveals she spent the party hiding in the bathroom instead of socializing. * (as an interlude) plays a song on the accordion in a church with an ever-growing group of musicians. * plays a gangster assigned to murder a man who looks identical to him. After he has stabbed the man in the neck and carved scars into the man's face that match his own, the victim suddenly stabs Oscar in the neck. Oscar manages to limp his way back to the limousine, seemingly severely injured. While Oscar is removing his makeup, a man with a

port-wine stain A port-wine stain (''nevus flammeus'') is a discoloration of the human skin caused by a vascular anomaly (a capillary malformation in the skin). They are so named for their coloration, which is similar in color to port wine, a fortified red wi ...

on his face reveals his presence in the limo. The man asks Oscar if he still enjoys his work, since he has looked "tired" recently. Oscar admits it is harder now that he cannot see the cameras, but says he continues for "the beauty of the act". * yells at Céline to stop, runs from the limo wearing a red balaclava covered with

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is ...

, and shoots a banker who looks just like he did in the morning when he left for his first appointment. He is gunned down by the banker's bodyguards and Céline rushes to him. As she leads him away, she apologizes and says there has been a mix-up. * plays the elderly "Mr. Vogan", who enters a hotel and gets into bed in one of the rooms. Vogan's niece Léa enters, they talk about their lives, and he dies. While Léa cries, Oscar gets out of bed and excuses himself to go to another appointment. He asks Léa her real name, and she says it is Élise and that she also has another appointment. * (in what does not seem to be one of his appointments) is almost hit by another white limousine, whose female passenger he recognizes. Still in pajamas, Oscar asks if they can talk, and they go to the abandoned

La Samaritaine La Samaritaine (French pronunciation: a samaʁitɛn is a large department store in Paris, France, located in the first arrondissement. The nearest métro station is Pont-Neuf, directly in front at the quai du Louvre and the rue de la Monnaie ...

building, where Jean (the woman) says they have 20 minutes to catch up on the past 20 years before her "partner" arrives and she will play the last night of an air hostess named Eva Grace. As they ascend to the roof of the building, she sings a wistful song that indicates she and Oscar "once had a child". Oscar leaves her and, avoiding the male partner on the staircase, returns to his limo. When he sees that Eva and the partner have jumped to their deaths from the top of the building, he lets out an anguished cry and runs past them. * plays a man whose wife and children are chimpanzees. Alone, Céline drives to the Holy Motors garage, which is filled with other limousines. She parks, places a white mask on her face,Edith Scob, who plays Céline, wore an identical mask in her best-known role in '' Eyes Without a Face''. Source: Barber, Lynden
Holy Motors: Cheat sheet
SBS. 8 Aug 2012. and leaves. The moment she is gone, the limousines begin to talk to one another, expressing fear that they are outdated and unwanted.

Cast

as Mr. Oscar / The Banker / The Beggar / The Motion Capture Actor / Monsieur Merde / The Father / The Accordionist / The Killer / The Killed / The Dying / The Man at Home *

as Céline *

Eva Mendes Eva de la Caridad Méndez (, ; born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and fashion designer. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in films such as '' Children of the Cor ...

as Kay M. *

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

as Eva Grace (Jean) * Élise L'Homeau as Léa (Élise) * Jeanne Disson as Angèle *

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

as The Man with a Birthmark *

as The Sleeper

Production

Development

Before the production of ''Holy Motors'', Carax had tried to fund a big English-language film for five years. Financiers were reluctant to invest, so Carax, whose previous feature film was ''

Pola X ''Pola X'' is a 1999 drama film directed by Leos Carax and starring Guillaume Depardieu, Yekaterina Golubeva and Catherine Deneuve. The film is loosely based on the Herman Melville novel '' Pierre: or, The Ambiguities''. It revolves around a youn ...

'' in 1999, decided to make a smaller French-language film first, with the aim of regaining prominence in international cinema. Taking inspiration from the omnibus ''

Tokyo! ''Tokyo!'' is a 2008 anthology film containing three segments written by three non-Japanese directors, all of which were filmed in Tokyo, Japan. Michel Gondry directed "Interior Design", Leos Carax directed "Merde", and Bong Joon-ho directed "Sh ...

'', for which he had made a commissioned

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

(''Merde'', which featured the original appearance of the character Monsieur Merde), he wrote a cheap film intended for his regular collaborator

. Carax was able to sway potential investors concerned with the film's budget by switching to digital photography, a process of which he strongly disapproves. The spark for the film came from Carax's observation that stretch limousines were being increasingly used for weddings. He was interested in their bulkiness, saying: "They're outdated, like the old futurist toys of the past. I think they mark the end of an era, the era of large, visible machines." From that grew an idea for a film about the increasing digitalisation of society, a science-fiction scenario where organisms and visible machines share a common superfluity. The opening scene was inspired by the

E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in ...

novella ''Don Juan'', about a man who discovers a secret door in his bedroom that leads to an opera house. ''Holy Motors'' was produced through Pierre Grise Productions for a budget of €3.9 million, which included money from the CNC, Île-de-France region,

Arte France Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, and Ciné+. It was a 20% German co-production through the company Pandora, and received €350,000 from the Franco-German co-production support committee.

Casting

Of the lead role, Carax said: "If Denis had said no, I would have offered the part to

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

or to Chaplin. Or to

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

Michel Simon Michel Simon (; 9 April 1895 – 30 May 1975) was a Swiss-French actor. He appeared in many notable French films, including ''La Chienne'' (1931), ''Boudu Saved from Drowning'' (1932), ''L'Atalante'' (1934), ''Port of Shadows'' (1938), '' The He ...

, all of whom are dead."

had previously worked with Carax on '' Les Amants du Pont-Neuf'', but was then almost entirely cut out, so Carax felt he owed her a larger role. He also thought ''Holy Motors'' was indebted to

Georges Franju Georges Franju (; 12 April 1912 – 5 November 1987) was a French filmmaker. He was born in Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine. Biography Early life Before working in French cinema, Franju held several different jobs. These included working for a ...

's '' Eyes Without a Face'', in which Scob starred, and decided to give an explicit nod to the film by casting her. The character Kay M. came from a canceled project that was supposed to star Lavant and

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

and follow the Merde character from ''Tokyo!'' in the United States.

was offered the role after she and Carax met at a film festival and agreed to make a film together. Carax discovered

after

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

suggested her for a canceled project.

's role was originally intended for Carax himself, but he decided it would be misleading to cast a filmmaker. When Piccoli was cast, the idea was to make him unrecognizable and credit him under a pseudonym, but news of his casting reached the media, so that plan was dropped.

Filming and post-production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

took place in Paris. Filming started in September 2011 and ended in November. The music in the film includes Minogue performing the song "Who Were We?" by Carax and

Neil Hannon Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for ...

, as well as

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

's String Quartet No. 15 and the track "Sinking of Bingou-Maru" from ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

''. There are also songs by Sparks, Manset, KONGOS, and R. L. Burnside.

Release

The film premiered on 23 May 2012 in competition at the

65th Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section ...

, after which ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported that the screening was met with "whooping and hollering" and "a storm of critical excitement on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

". It was released in France on 4 July 2012 through

Les Films du Losange Les films du losange is a film production company founded by Barbet Schroeder and Éric Rohmer in 1962. The company funds and distributes many films from the French nouvelle vague era, directed by Rohmer, Schroeder, Roger Planchon, Jacques Rivett ...

Reception

Critical Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 196 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10; the website's critical consensus reads: "Mesmerizingly strange and willfully perverse, ''Holy Motors'' offers an unforgettable visual feast alongside a spellbinding – albeit unapologetically challenging – narrative." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average of score of 84/100 based on 34 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' rated the film five out of five and wrote: "Leos Carax's ''Holy Motors'' is weird and wonderful, rich and strange – barking mad, in fact. It is wayward, kaleidoscopic, black comic and bizarre; there is in it a batsqueak of genius, dishevelment and derangement; it is captivating and compelling. ... is is what we have all come to Cannes for: for something different, experimental, a tilting at windmills, a great big pole-vault over the barrier of normality by someone who feels that the possibilities of cinema have not been exhausted by conventional realist drama." He later named it one of the year's 10 best films.

Robbie Collin Robbie Collin is a British film critic. Collin studied aesthetics and the philosophy of film at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He edited the university's student newspaper, '' The Saint''. Collin has been the chief film critic at ''The D ...

of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' gave the film five stars, writing: "It is a film about the stuff of cinema itself, and is perhaps the strongest contender for the Palme d’Or yet." On his "Views From The Edge" blog, Spencer Hawken wrote: "''Holy Motors'' is a mind-boggling movie, with oodles of character; it’s funny, emotional, and surprising. It has images that will stay in your head, most notably the accordion interlude, which comes completely out of nowhere, and really takes things up a gear." William Goss of Film.com wrote: "In terms of pure cinematic sensation, ''Holy Motors'' stands as one of the most delightfully enigmatic movies that I've seen in quite some time."

Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called ''Holy Motors'' one of 2012's 10 best films. The film placed fourth on ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

''s critics' poll of the best films of 2012, third on ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

''s annual poll of film critics, and first on both ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

''s and ''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

''s year-end film critics' polls. French film magazine ''

Cahiers du cinéma ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab ...

'' also named ''Holy Motors'' the best film of the year. In 2016, it was chosen as the 16th-greatest film of the 21st century by a worldwide group of critics polled by the BBC.

Best lists

''Holy Motors'' was on numerous critics' and publications' lists of the best films of 2012. * 1st – Michael Sicinski * 1st – ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock and roll, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though ...

'' * 1st – Matt Singer, ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' * 1st – David Ehrlich, ''

'' * 1st –

Richard Brody Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999. Education Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He firs ...

, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' * 1st – Eric Kohn, ''

'' * 1st – ''

'' * 1st –

Mike D'Angelo Mike D'Angelo (born April 9, 1968) is an American film critic. He has written reviews for '' The A.V. Club'', ''Las Vegas Weekly'' and ''Nerve'', and maintains a personal website, The Man Who Viewed Too Much. He lives near Los Angeles. One of t ...

, '' The A.V. Club'' * 1st – ''

Cahiers du Cinéma ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab ...

'' * 2nd – Miriam Bale, ''

Fandor Fandor is a film streaming service, dedicated to independent films, documentaries, international titles, and classics, and is a division of the American entertainment company, Cinedigm. Relaunched in 2021, Fandor offers thousands of films, rangi ...

'' * 2nd – Jonathan Marlow, ''

'' * 2nd – Kevin B. Lee, ''

'' * 2nd – Andrew O'Hehir, ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

'' * 2nd –

Karina Longworth Karina Longworth (born July 10, 1980) is an American film critic, author, and journalist based in Los Angeles. Longworth writes, hosts and produces the podcast ''You Must Remember This'', about the "secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywoo ...

, ''

'' * 2nd – ''

Slant Slant can refer to: Bias *Bias or other non-objectivity in journalism, politics, academia or other fields Technical * Slant range, in telecommunications, the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level * Slant d ...

'' * 3rd – Nick Schager, ''

'' * 3rd –

Bilge Ebiri Bilge Ebiri (; born 1973) is an English-born American journalist and filmmaker. His first feature film, a comedy thriller entitled ''New Guy'', was released in 2004. Early life and education Ebiri studied film at Yale University where his thesis ...

, ''They live by night'' * 3rd – ''

Cinema Scope ''Cinema Scope'' is an English-language film magazine published in Toronto, Canada. History and profile ''Cinema Scope'' has been published since 1999 with articles on world cinema. The magazine has compiled a list of the top 10 films of each ...

'' * 4th –

, ''

'' * 4th – '' Little White Lies'' * 4th – '' The A.V. Club'' * 4th – Scott Tobias, '' The A.V. Club'' * 5th –

Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist" on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at ''The Boston Globe'' for two ...

, ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' * 5th –

, ''

'' * 5th – Noel Murray, '' The A.V. Club'' * 5th – Darren Hughes, ''Long Pauses'' * 5th – ''Reverse Shot'' * 6th – Allison Willmore, '' The A.V. Club'' * 7th – Sean Burns, ''

Philadelphia Weekly ''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, a ...

'' * 7th – Ben Sachs, ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' * 8th –

Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for '' The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with Jenna Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast ''Still Processing.'' Previously, Mor ...

, ''

'' * Top 8 (unranked) –

Anthony Lane Anthony Lane is a British journalist who is a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Career Education and early career Lane attended Sherborne School and graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also ...

, ''

'' * 9th – ''

The L Magazine ''The L Magazine'' was a free bi-weekly magazine in New York City featuring investigative articles, arts and culture commentary, and event listings. It was available through distribution in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Hoboken. History ''T ...

'' * 9th –

Glenn Kenny Glenn Kenny (born August 8, 1959) is an American film critic and journalist. He writes for '' The New York Times'' and ''RogerEbert.com''. Biography Kenny attended William Paterson University, where he majored in English literature.

, ''Some Came Running'' * 10th – Fernando F. Croce, ''

'' * 10th – Matt Prigge, ''

'' * 10th – Keith Phipps, '' The A.V. Club'' * Top 10 (unranked) – David Edelstein, ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' * 12th – Sam Adams, '' The A.V. Club'' * 13th – ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' * Top 15 (unranked) – Dana Stevens, ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' * Top 16 (unranked) –

Dennis Cooper Dennis Cooper (born January 10, 1953) is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist. He is best known for the ''George Miles Cycle'', a series of five semi-autobiographical novels published between 1989 and 2000 and describe ...

* 20th – ''

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'' * Top 20 (unranked) – Michael Phillips, ''

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'' * Top 25 (narrative films, unranked);– Dennis Harvey, ''

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'' It was also featured on many critics' and publications' lists of the best films of the 2010s: * 2nd – ''

'' * 3rd – ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' * 5th – Jonathan Rosenbaum as submitted to Caimán Cuadernos de Cine * 6th – ''

'' * 7th – ''Reverse Shot'' * 9th – Jordan Cronk * 9th –

, ''Some Came Running'' * 10th – ''

'' * 11th – Matt Singer, '' ScreenCrush'' * Top 11 (unranked) – Miriam Bale * 13th – ''

Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinkin ...

'' * 14th – '' The A.V. Club'' * 16th –

, ''

'' * Top 17 (unranked);– Eric Allen Hatch * Top 21 (between 12-21, unranked) – Nicole Brenez as submitted to '' The Toronto Film Review'' * 25th – Jordan Ruimy, '' World of Reel'' * Top 27 (unranked);–

, ''

'' * 36th – ''The Playlist'' * 43rd – ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' (New York) * 43rd – Susannah Gruder * Top 50 (unranked);– Nellie Killian * 59th – '' Paste'' * Top 70 (between 26-70, unranked) – ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' * 90th – ''

Film School Rejects Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006. The site was nominated for Best News Blog by ''Total Film'' magazine and n ...

'' According to ''They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?'', ''Holy Motors'' is the 11th-most critically acclaimed film of the 21st century and the 283rd-most critically acclaimed film of all time.

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Motors 2012 films 2010s crime drama films 2010s fantasy drama films 2012 independent films Chinese-language films English-language French films English-language German films Films directed by Leos Carax Films set in a movie theatre Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris French crime drama films French fantasy drama films French independent films 2010s French-language films German crime drama films German fantasy drama films German independent films 2012 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s French films 2010s German films 2012 multilingual films French multilingual films German multilingual films

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

Casting

Filming and post-production

Release

Reception

Critical Reception

Best lists

Accolades

See also

Notes

References

External links