Read My Lips

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Read My Lips

R

2002

1h 58m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

96 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Carla Bhem (Emmanuelle Devos) has worked as a secretary for a property development company for a long time. Her job includes everything from handling files to dealing with suppliers. First to arrive in the morning, last out at night... And her reward? To be paid like a serf, treated like mud and ordered around like a dog. The name of the solution is Paul Angeli (Vincent Cassel), the new trainee she had hired that is fresh out of jail. She teaches him good manners and he teaches her bad ones.

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Critics Consensus

A clever and offbeat character study about two people discovering each other.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

May be the finest thriller/romance hybrid of the new century.

Rated: A-

May 4, 2005

Full Review

Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Audiard has created one of those rare, commercially released movies that trades in actual, honest-to-god surprise.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 4, 2002

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Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Having changed into action gear, the picture never looks back, leaving two people who seemed wonderfully unique to do things that are cinematically trite.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 4, 2002

Full Review

Frank J. Avella

The Contending

Audiard loves to genre blend and that was obvious early on. Here he whips together elements of noir, romantic comedy and gritty thriller and dishes out a most delicious cinematic soufflé. Devos and Cassel make a fab team.

Rated: B+

Oct 21, 2025

Full Review

Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Crawling onto the razor's edge with bare hands, Jacques Audiard's film generates daringly uncomfortable, psychologically dangerous heat rarely found in romance of any stripe. Exhilaratingly paced, cleverly suspenseful and tastefully erotic.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 17, 2010

Full Review

Mark Halverson

Sacramento News & Review

Rated: 4/5

Aug 7, 2008

Full Review

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Alejandro I

EMILIA PEREZ ES UNA BASURA‼️‼️‼️

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/25

Full Review

helder f

This movie has a nice story, and good acting. I have found it too slow to start. Over forty five minutes to set the main story is too much. We could easily edit the first 45 minutes into 15 without losing anything substantial. The last 30 minutes are entertaining though. Some scenes are just too loud! There’s only so much office noise one can hear in 30 minutes... The two main characters are very odd and aren’t very likable characters to a point that their fate is not of much importance. In fact the movie just became of some interest to me in that I was interested to see the outcome of their theft. The whole notion that they have a great chemistry and sexual tension must be subjective… because I definitely didn't see it. Except for maybe the last couple of scenes. The only character I found likable was the parole officer -whose story escaped me. I had to fast forward through some of the long winded and repetitive scenes.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/17/24

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Hagatha P

Omigod sooooo sexy! Vincent Cassel is the best thing since Depardieu played Loulou in a scruffy leather jacket, an amazing jolie laide face of angles and mystery. A bit too violent for my taste, but the last scenes are so breathtakingly erotic, I gotta say five stars, hallelujah!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/06/24

Full Review

nefasto r

Good Romance / Thriller story. I particularly liked the two characters, and that is why I preferred the first part of the film, the introduction part, to the second part, with more action and less charm.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I feel like all these kinda french quasi-thrillers are overrated, but they aren't bad by any means. They're just way overrated. They almost always have pacing problems and story problems. But they're well-acted and do enough clever things. Anyway, see it. It's good.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

Surprising and refreshing.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Jacques Audiard

Director

Vincent Cassel

Paul Angeli

Emmanuelle Devos

Carla Bhem

Olivier Gourmet

Marchand

Olivia Bonamy

Annie

Olivier Perrier

Masson

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Synopsis

Carla Bhem (Emmanuelle Devos) has worked as a secretary for a property development company for a long time. Her job includes everything from handling files to dealing with suppliers. First to arrive in the morning, last out at night... And her reward? To be paid like a serf, treated like mud and ordered around like a dog. The name of the solution is Paul Angeli (Vincent Cassel), the new trainee she had hired that is fresh out of jail. She teaches him good manners and he teaches her bad ones.

Director: Jacques Audiard
Producer: Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi
Screenwriter: Jacques Audiard, Tonino Benacquista
Distributor: Magnolia Films
Production Co: Paramount
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language|Violence)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 5, 2002, Wide
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.4M
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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