Kiss Me (1989): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1989, Kiss Me is a drama film directed by Michèle Rosier, running about 93 minutes.

What it’s about. The first film shot by legendary cinematographer Darius Khondji and anchored by a heartbreaking performance by Sophie Rochut, EMBRASSE-MOI is a slice-of-life drama about Louise, an 12-year-old girl left to her own devices over the summer following her parents’ divorce. Her mother is a renowned concert pianist, anxious to begin a second life free of entanglements. Her father is a workaholic industrialist, distracted to the point of denial about the collapse of his marriage. Rosier’s command of her cast is impossible to deny, as is the brave unsentimentality of EMBRASSE-MOI’s approach: Louise clocks her mother’s newer, younger lover in one brazen panning shot across his naked body. While Rosier denied any autobiographical interpretations of EMBRASSE-MOI, it’s hard not to read at least a kinship between Louie’s solitude and the filmmaker’s own relationship with her famous mother Hélène Gordon-Lazareff (founder of Elle) and stepfather Pierre Lazareff, who adopted Michèle as his own.

Who’s in it. Kiss Me stars Sophie Rochut as Louise, Philippe Clévenot as L'accordeur, Dominique Valadié as Nora - la mère and Patrick Chesnais as Pierre - le père, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.0/10, Kiss Me has been warmly received by audiences.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Kiss Me page.

If you liked it. Fans of Kiss Me tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.