Amélie (2001)
She’ll change your life.
At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 25 April 2001 |
| Genre | Comedy, Romance |
| Director | Jean-Pierre Jeunet |
| Starring | Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz and Rufus |
| Runtime | 122 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 8.1/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 90% · Metacritic 70/100 · TMDB users 7.9/10 |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $174 million worldwide |
Where to watch Amélie
We could not find Amélie on any of the subscription services we track in the US right now. That changes often; open it in Binge Boss and we will show you where it lands.
Rent or buy
You can rent Amélie on Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, Fandango at Home and FlixFling. It is also for sale on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Amélie in 8 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Australia | ARD/ZDF |
| Canada | Netflix $18.99 CAD |
| Denmark | Viaplay 159 kr DKK, Max 129 kr DKK |
| Finland | Viaplay €13.99, Max €11.99 |
| Japan | Hulu, U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Norway | Viaplay 169 kr NOK, Max 149 kr NOK |
| South Korea | Watcha, Tving ₩10900 |
| Sweden | Viaplay 169 kr SEK, Max 149 kr SEK, SVT Play free |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 comedy-romance runs 122 minutes, a duration that feels like a long exhale. Amélie Poulain, played by Audrey Tautou, treats other people’s lives as puzzles to solve while carefully avoiding her own. The film trusts that small, quiet kindness can outweigh loud declarations. It is a film that asks you to accept a world where magic is just good manners with a little extra effort.
What the critics said
Critics largely agreed on the charm, though the numbers suggest a slight coolness. Rotten Tomatoes holds a 90% approval rating as of January 2026, while Metacritic sits at 69 out of 100. That gap usually means the movie works better on a first watch than a second. Alan Morrison of Empire called it "one of the year's best," a high bar for a film about eating chocolate. Paul Tatara of CNN found the first hour "brimming with amiable, sardonic laughs," which is exactly the vibe it sells. Some dissent exists; Serge Kaganski of Les Inrockuptibles criticized the unrealistic, picturesque vision of French society. The director countered that the photo collection includes diverse backgrounds, which is a fair point, even if the film’s main street still looks a bit like a postcard.
How it did with audiences
It cost $10 million and took in $174 million worldwide, a figure that makes the production look like a bargain rather than a gamble. In France, it was the highest-grossing film of the year with a $44 million total. North America saw $33 million, enough to make it the highest-grossing French-language film ever there. On TMDB, users rate it 7.9 out of 10. The math works out to a very comfortable margin for everyone involved.
Awards
Amélie collected 11 wins from 14 nominations. Jean-Pierre Jeunet took the European Film Award for Best Director, while Bruno Delbonnel picked up the cinematography prize. The film also claimed the Lumière Award for Best Film.
What came next for the cast
Mathieu Kassovitz arrived from La Haine. He left for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The leap is vast, and the credits just list it. Rufus moved from The City of Lost Children to The African Doctor. Neither path suggests a single straight line. One went big and sci-fi, the other stayed near the ground. The timeline records the distance. It does not explain the journey.
Where it left its mark
Bryan Fuller called Amélie his favorite film, citing the kindness that makes him cry. He wanted that same whimsy for his show Pushing Daisies. The New York Times noted the influence was everywhere. A frog species, Cochranella amelie, bears her name. Its describer linked the creature to the film’s attention to small details. Even a painting game, Été, lets users paint Montreal into life. The ripple effect is surprisingly broad.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Amélie.
Sources
- Amélie on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q484048 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Amélie” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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