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The Great Arch

The Great Arch

Drama · History · 2025

France, 1983. The biggest architectural competition in history is launched by the new socialist president, François Mitterrand. Coveted by all the biggest international architectural firms, the open-call competition is surprisingly won by an unknown: Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, an architecture teacher from Copenhagen. Until then, the fifty-year-old Dane had built only four buildings: his home, and three small chapels.

Movie details

The Great Arch

2025 Drama · History 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.9 / 10

2.2K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

89 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

France, 1983. The biggest architectural competition in history is launched by the new socialist president, François Mitterrand. Coveted by all the biggest international architectural firms, the open-call competition is surprisingly won by an unknown: Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, an architecture teacher from Copenhagen. Until then, the fifty-year-old Dane had built only four buildings: his home, and three small chapels.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Great Arch?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Stéphane Demoustier

Written by

Stéphane Demoustier

Claes Bang

Claes Bang

Johan Otto von Spreckelsen

Xavier Dolan

Xavier Dolan

Jean-Louis Subilon

Swann Arlaud

Swann Arlaud

Paul Andreu

Sidse Babett Knudsen

Sidse Babett Knudsen

Liv von Spreckelsen

Michel Fau

Michel Fau

François Mitterrand

Jean des Forêts

Jean des Forêts

Alain Juppé

Micha Lescot

Micha Lescot

Leloup

Court is in session

Put The Great Arch on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.