Chantal Thomas
Writer · Born October 18, 1945 (81) · Lyon, Rhône, France
Chantal Thomas (born 18 October 1945, in Lyon) is a French writer and historian. Her 2002 book, Farewell, My Queen, won the Prix Femina and was adapted into a 2012 film starring Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux. Thomas was born in Lyon in 1945, and was raised in Arcachon, Bordeaux, and Paris. Her life has included teaching jobs at American and French universities (such as Yale and Princeton) as well as a publishing career. She has published nineteen works, including essays on the Marquis de Sade, Casanova, and Marie Antoinette. In 2002, Thomas published Les adieux à la reine (Farewell, My Queen). The novel gave a fictional account of the final days of Marie Antoinette in power through the perspective of one of her servants. It won the Prix Femina in 2002, and was later adapted into the 2012 film Farewell, My Queen. The film stars Diane Kruger as the titular queen and Léa Seydoux as her servant Sidonie Laborde. Thomas co-wrote the screenplay, and it opened the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. Helen Falconer of The Guardian called the work "a well written slice of history" with "evocative, observant prose," but criticized it for creating a narrator who "merely provides us with a pair of eyes to see through rather than capturing our interest in her own right." While disagreeing in its classification as a novel, Falconer did however add that Farewell, My Queen "generates in the reader a real sense of being a fly on the wall, eavesdropping on the affairs of the great and the not so good." Thomas is currently the director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. She was elected a member of the Académie française (seat number 12) on 28 January 2021. Source: Article "Chantal Thomas" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 18, 1945 (81)
- Lyon, Rhône, France
- Writer
- 3 on MovieCove · 5 credits in all
What are Chantal Thomas' films like?
Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Self.
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3
A split, not a type: Light 0 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 1 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
A split, not a type: Steady 2 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 2
A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Chantal Thomas' films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 3 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Chantal Thomas' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
5 credits, 3 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Platée (Palais Garnier) (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Casanova, Last Love(2019)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
The Royal Exchange(2017)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Roland Barthes, 1915-1980: Le théâtre du langage (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Farewell, My Queen(2012)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 5 titles from 2012 to 2022.
Biggest box office
Farewell, My Queen (2012)
Highest rated
The Royal Exchange (2017)
Most popular right now
Casanova, Last Love (2019)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.
How do Chantal Thomas' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 48th percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 51st percentile for acclaim.
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 3 titles divides audiences: 1 is Crowd Pleaser.
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 48/100 and the plot and story 40/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Chantal Thomas work with?
People who share at least 2 of Chantal Thomas' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Benoît Jacquot shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Benoît JacquotShared titles: Casanova, Last Love (2019), Farewell, My Queen (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Benoît Jacquot
Composers
- Bruno CoulaisShared titles: Casanova, Last Love (2019), Farewell, My Queen (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Bruno Coulais
Producers
- Jean-Pierre GuérinShared titles: Casanova, Last Love (2019), Farewell, My Queen (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Jean-Pierre Guérin
- Kristina LarsenShared titles: Casanova, Last Love (2019), Farewell, My Queen (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Kristina Larsen