Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Balconettes

Play trailer Poster for The Balconettes Now Playing 1h 44m Comedy Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
76% Tomatometer 46 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
As a heat wave brings a Marseille neighborhood to the boil, three roommates gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony. Until a late night drink turns into a bloody affair.
Now in Theaters Now Playing Buy Tickets
The Balconettes

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A Gallic farce that wildly veers between tones with a feminist undercurrent throughout, The Balconettes marks a promising creative progression for director-and-star Noémie Merlant.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (46)
Robbie Collin Daily Telegraph (UK) Merlant’s film isn’t being unladylike: rather, it’s asserting that ladylike is what all of these things really are, and it’s high time cinema admitted it. Rated: 4/5 Oct 21, 2024 Full Review Hannah Strong Little White Lies But a gimmicky supernatural element somewhat undermines the more serious message, and there’s a sense that the film could have perhaps been kept to a tight 90 minutes, as it runs out of steam in the back half. May 24, 2024 Full Review Robert Daniels RogerEbert.com The components are there: a strong ensemble, mostly sturdy camerawork, and an intriguing premise. But the parts rarely add up to a satisfying whole, and so the potential of “The Balconettes” is left annoyingly hanging in the air. May 24, 2024 Full Review Keri O'Shea Warped Perspective For all of the genre-straddling goings-on, which will almost certainly make it harder for this film to find a large and receptive audience, there’s enough bizarre energy and ambition here to make The Balconettes oddly, dementedly appealing. Aug 31, 2025 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review An ambitious project for a freshman effort, The Balconettes finds Merlant experimenting with a variety of tones and stylistic modes without losing focus on her thematic and narrative throughlines.  Rated: 3/4 Aug 28, 2025 Full Review Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews boasts a colorful cast and sexy summertime vibe, but Merlant's midway shift is bumpy on her way to a feminist call to arms finale. Rated: B- Aug 23, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (3)
revolver.0 8 got some good themes, but overall fem farce Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/07/25 Full Review Robin C “The Balconettes” It is 115 degrees Fahrenheit in Marseilles. Two roommates and their friend – Ruby (Souheila Yacoub), Nicole (Sanda Codreanu) and Elise (Noemie Merlant) – suffer the heat by looking out over their balcony at the hunky guy across the way. He invites them over to party but things go terribly wrong for “The Balconettes.” We meet the three roommates one by one with Nicole being the first. She is rather shy and reticent and the exact opposite of Ruby, a free spirit who loves to love. Finally, the third in the triumvirate, Elise, is an actress, unhappily married and separated, and screwing up her job. So, they are ready for a diversion from the heat and handsome Magnani (Lucas Bravo) fills the bill as they flirt shamelessly, especially Ruby, and get an invite to pay him a visit. They party hard for a while when Elise gets pass out drunk. Nicole takes her home and they leave their friend for a night of sexual bliss. Later, though, Ruby shows up at home all bloody and beaten and unable to talk. Then, they learn the truth when they go back to the late hunk’s apartment. It ain’t pretty. This is where “The Balconettes” switches gears from a “girls just want to have fun” buddy flick to one of mayhem, cover-up and guilt – and bloody body disposal. This makes for an oddly structured film with three sort of likable roommates who get into a situation way over their heads. It is a combo of dark comedy and off-screen mayhem and bloodshed that had me a little confused. The three best buddies are dramatically different from each other, making me wonder if they would even be friends. Nicole’s reticence, Ruby’s over-the-top free-spirit and Elise’s confusion of life make for strange bedfellows and I am not sure I believe it. Of the three, Ruby is the one most full of life and, when she arrives home all bloodied, you want just desserts received. The way they go about it makes for the second half. B- Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/26/25 Full Review Тарасенко Ф Doesn't work! It was really bad - watching it. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/28/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Balconettes

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
The Blackening 87% 85% The Blackening Watchlist TRAILER for The Blackening Vicious Fun 89% 69% Vicious Fun Watchlist TRAILER for Vicious Fun Here for Blood 88% 88% Here for Blood Watchlist TRAILER for Here for Blood Bloody Hell 91% 80% Bloody Hell Watchlist TRAILER for Bloody Hell All You Need Is Blood % % All You Need Is Blood Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis As a heat wave brings a Marseille neighborhood to the boil, three roommates gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony. Until a late night drink turns into a bloody affair.
Director
Noémie Merlant
Producer
Pierre Guyard
Screenwriter
Noémie Merlant, Céline Sciamma
Distributor
The Forge
Production Co
Nord-Ouest Films
Genre
Comedy, Horror
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 22, 2025, Limited
Runtime
1h 44m