Two Pianos(2026)

Plot Summary

• Two Pianos is a 2025 French romantic drama written and directed by Arnaud Desplechin. The film stars François Civil as Mathias Vogler, a pianist who returns to his hometown of Lyon after eight years of self-imposed exile in Japan at the invitation of his former mentor Elena (Charlotte Rampling), who wants him to perform a series of concerts with her at the Auditorium of Lyon. Shortly after his arrival, Mathias encounters a young boy who looks uncannily like him, and crosses paths with Claude (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), his first love, setting off an emotional spiral. Hippolyte Girardot rounds out the principal cast. Cinematography is by Paul Guilhaume, and the score is composed by Grégoire Hetzel. The film was produced by Why Not Productions and distributed in France by Le Pacte. The film had its world premiere in the Gala Presentations section of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2025, and was subsequently screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Rome Film Festival. It was released theatrically in France on October 15, 2025, by Le Pacte. The US theatrical release is May 8, 2026. The film runs 130 minutes. Core themes include memory, identity, love, the doppelgänger, artistic ambition, and the weight of the past. The film is for audiences drawn to French auteur cinema and the work of Arnaud Desplechin.