Back to trending
The Ideal Palace

The Ideal Palace

History · Drama · 2019

Follows Joseph Ferdinand Chavel a French postman who built a palace in the French countryside over 33 years.

Movie details

The Ideal Palace

2019 History · Drama 1h 45m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Follows Joseph Ferdinand Chavel a French postman who built a palace in the French countryside over 33 years.

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 Ideal Palace?

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.

Austerlitz

Austerlitz

Drama · 1960

Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself emperor and fights the English, Austrians and Russians in 1802.

Chouans !

Chouans !

Drama · 1988

Directed by Philippe de Broca, the film recounts a bloody episode of the French Revolution. 1793, the Terror . In Vendée and in Bretagne, the chouans are revolting against the young Republic and fight for the monarchy restauration. The civil war divides also the family of the Count Savinien de Kerfadec, a liberal and generous noble and a flying machines inventor.

The Passengers of the Night

The Passengers of the Night

Drama · 2022

On election night in 1981, celebrations spill out onto the street and there is an air of hope and change throughout Paris. But for Elisabeth, her marriage is coming to an end and she will now have to support herself and her two teenage children. She finds work at a late-night radio show and encounters a troubled teenager named Talulah whom she invites into her home.

Wild Diamond

Wild Diamond

Drama · 2024

Liane, 19 years old, daring and fiery, lives with her mother and little sister under the dusty sun of Fréjus in the South of France. Obsessed with beauty and the need to become “someone”, she sees reality TV as her opportunity to be loved... Fate smiles upon her when she auditions for “Miracle Island”.

The Great Escaper

The Great Escaper

History · 2023

In the summer of 2014, a World War II veteran sneaks out of his care home to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Shirley

Shirley

History · 2024

Shirley Chisholm makes a trailblazing run for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination after becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress.

Mr. Turner

Mr. Turner

History · 2014

Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.

Paris 36

Paris 36

Drama · 2008

A star is born in a time of both celebration and instability in this historical drama with music from director Christophe Barratier. In the spring of 1936, Paris is in a state of uncertainty; while the rise of the Third Reich in Germany worries many, a leftist union-oriented candidate, Léon Blum, has been voted into power, and organized labor is feeling its new power by standing up to management.

Haute Couture

Haute Couture

Drama · 2021

Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 years old girl, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take care of Jade. She sees in her the opportunity to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking, her only wealth. In the frenetic world of Haute Couture, Esther will give Jade la beauté du geste, a way to reach beyond herself.

Gigi & Nate

Gigi & Nate

Drama · 2022

A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Nils Tavernier

Written by

Laurent Bertoni · Fanny Desmarès · Nils Tavernier

Jacques Gamblin

Jacques Gamblin

Joseph Ferdinand Cheval, aka 'Le facteur Cheval'

Laetitia Casta

Laetitia Casta

Philomène Cheval

Florence Thomassin

Florence Thomassin

Félicienne

Bernard Le Coq

Bernard Le Coq

Auguste

Natacha Lindinger

Natacha Lindinger

Garance

Zélie Rixhon

Zélie Rixhon

Alice Cheval

Éric Savin

Éric Savin

Joseph Cadier

Court is in session

Put The Ideal Palace 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.