# Carmen (2022 film)

Carmen is a 2022 musical drama film directed by Benjamin Millepied in his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Loïc Barrère, and Millepied from a screen story by Millepied and Barrère. The film stars Melissa Barrera, Paul Mescal, Rossy de Palma and Tracy Curry.
Though described as Millepied's take on Bizet's opera of the same name, it is "a complete re-imagining" that ignores the opera's plot and setting; all that remains are "selected lyrics" from the opera's libretto sung in the original French by a choir as background to one scene between the two leads. The film features an original score composed by Nicholas Britell with songs written and composed by Britell, Taura Stinson, Julieta Venegas and Curry.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September 2022. It was released in the United States on 21 April 2023 by Sony Pictures Classics, in France on 14 June 2023 by Pathé Distribution, and in Australia on 13 July by Madman Films.

## Premise

Carmen flees the Mexican desert, is rescued by Aidan, and together they struggle to evade the authorities as they head for Los Angeles.

## Cast

* Melissa Barrera as Carmen
* Paul Mescal as Aidan
* Rossy de Palma as Masilda
* Tracy "The DOC" Curry as Referee
* Nicole da Silva as Julieanne
* Benedict Hardie as Mike
* Elsa Pataky as Gabrielle
* Tara Morice as Marie
* Marina Tamayo II as Zilah
* Zac Drayson as Pete

## Production

In May 2017, Benjamin Millepied was set to make his feature film directorial debut with the film version of Carmen for Chapter 2, originally conceived as "a modern-day reimagining of one of the world's most celebrated operas". Once completed, Millepied recognized his film was less an adaptation than "a version of Bizet's tragedy from a parallel universe". Loïc Barrère [fr] and Millepied will write the script. In May 2019, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film for North and Latin America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the CIS and the Middle East, with TF1 Studio selling remaining territories and Nilo Cruz writing the script. In November 2020, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. was revealed to have co-written the script with Millepied and Loïc Barrère.

### Casting

In May 2019, it was announced that Melissa Barrera and Jamie Dornan were cast as Carmen and Aidan, respectively. In November 2020, Paul Mescal replaced Dornan and Rossy de Palma was cast in the film.

### Filming

Principal photography commenced on 18 January 2021 in Australia with Jörg Widmer as the cinematographer, and wrapped in early March 2021.

## Music

Nicholas Britell composed the score and co-wrote the songs with Julieta Venegas, Taura Stinson and Tracy "The DOC" Curry. Lynn Fainchtein served as music producer and music supervisor.

## Release

Carmen had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September 2022. It had a limited theatrical release in the United States on 21 April 2023 by Sony Pictures Classics, and was released theatrically in France on 14 June 2023 by Pathé Distribution and in Australia on 13 July by Madman Films.
The film was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on 11 July 2023.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 98 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Benjamin Millepied reinvents Prosper Mérimée's tragic novella as a dance extravaganza full of sound and fury signifying a hollow emotional core, although the ravishing style is a treat onto itself." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

### Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| Toronto International Film Festival | September 18, 2022 | FIPRESCI Prize | Carmen | Nominated |
| Miami Film Festival | March 12, 2023 | Jordan Ressler First Feature Award | Benjamin Millepied | Nominated |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 15, 2023 | Music Themed Film, Biopic, or Musical | Carmen | Nominated |