Back to trending
The Little Thief

The Little Thief

Romance · Drama · Crime · 1988

In a small town in post-WWII France, 16-year-old Janine tries to improve her conditions by any means necessary. Three people—Michel, a married lover; Raoul, a fellow thief; Mauricette, a photographer she meets in prison—will help her learn from her mistakes.

Movie details

The Little Thief

1988 Romance · Drama · Crime 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

In a small town in post-WWII France, 16-year-old Janine tries to improve her conditions by any means necessary. Three people—Michel, a married lover; Raoul, a fellow thief; Mauricette, a photographer she meets in prison—will help her learn from her mistakes.

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 Little Thief?

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.

The Apartment

The Apartment

Mystery · 1996

Max is a former playboy who has decided to settle down by marrying his current love, Muriel. However, when Max catches a glimpse of the great lost love of his life, he becomes obsessed with rekindling their relationship.

Mélo

Mélo

Drama · 1986

In 1920s Paris, violinists and lifelong friends Pierre Belcroix and Marcel Blanc are happy with their lives, although Marcel has become famous and Pierre has not. Pierre is married to Romaine, a stylish young flapper. However, Marcel meets and falls in love with her, which Marcel little suspects.

A Tale of Winter

A Tale of Winter

Drama · 1992

Felicie and Charles have a whirlwind holiday romance. Due to a mix-up on addresses they lose contact, and five years later at Christmas-time Felicie is living with her mother in a cold Paris with a daughter as a reminder of that long-ago summer. For male companionship she oscillates between hairdresser Maxence and the intellectual Loic, but seems unable to commit to either as the memory of Charles and what might have been hangs over everything.

Paris Je T'aime

Paris Je T'aime

Drama · 2006

Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to choose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Drama · 2010

Francis is a young gay man, Marie is a young straight woman and the two of them are best friends -- until the day the gorgeous Nicolas walks into a Montreal coffee shop. The two friends, instantly and equally infatuated, compete for Nicolas' indeterminate affections, a conflict that climaxes when the trio visit the vacation home of Nicolas' mother. The frothy comedy unfolds through narrative, fantasy sequences and confessional monologues.

Hunting & Gathering

Hunting & Gathering

Romance · 2007

When Camille falls ill, she is forced to live with Philibert and Franck.

Luna

Luna

Drama · 2018

A film in which the director captures the beautiful and accurate qualities of reality when building the energetic portrait of a 16-year-old girl immersed in the macho culture of urban suburban south-west France, just a stone’s throw away from the nearby countryside.

Private Fears in Public Places

Private Fears in Public Places

Drama · 2006

Seven lonely lives in Paris: a middle-aged estate agent who believes a colleague is sending messages in video tapes she loans him; his co-worker whose Bible is close at hand in times of stress; her late-night charge, an angry, nasty bedridden old man; his son, a patient bartender; the bartender's best patron, an ex-soldier who's lost his moorings while his fiancée looks for a large flat for them; and, the estate agent's much younger sister, who answers personals and waits in cafés with a red flower pinned on her jacket. Will any connect? Can open hearts trump fears?

What the Day Owes the Night

What the Day Owes the Night

Drama · 2012

Algeria, the 1930s. Younes is nine years old when he is put in his uncle's care in Oran. Rebaptized Jonas, he grows up among the Rio Salado youths, with whom he becomes friends. Emilie is one of the gang; everyone is in love with her. A great love story develops between Jonas and Emilie, which is soon unsettled by the conflicts troubling the country.

Coup de chance

Coup de chance

Romance · 2023

Fanny and Jean have everything of an ideal couple: fulfilled professionally, they live in a magnificent apartment in the beautiful districts of Paris, and seem to be in love as on the first day. But when Fanny crosses, by chance, former classmate Alain, she's immediately capsized. They see each other again very quickly and grow closer.

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

Claude Miller

Written by

Annie Miller · Luc Béraud · Claude de Givray · François Truffaut

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Janine Castang

Didier Bezace

Didier Bezace

Michel Davenne

Simon de La Brosse

Simon de La Brosse

Raoul

Clotilde de Bayser

Clotilde de Bayser

Séverine Longuet

Raoul Billerey

Raoul Billerey

L'oncle André Rouleau

Chantal Banlier

Chantal Banlier

La tante Léa Rouleau

Nathalie Cardone

Nathalie Cardone

Mauricette

Court is in session

Put The Little Thief on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.