# Planetarium (film)
**Planetarium** (French title *Planétarium*) is a 2016 supernatural drama film directed by Rebecca Zlotowski, a French-Belgian co-production set in Paris in the late 1930s. It stars [Natalie Portman](https://www.edgepedia.org/natalie-portman) and [Lily-Rose Depp](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-rose-depp) as Laura and Kate Barlow, two American sisters who perform séances in which they appear to communicate with the dead, and Emmanuel Salinger as André Korben, a French film producer who hires them to capture a spiritualist act on camera.[1](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/planetarium/?lang=en) • [2](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/planetarium)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Rebecca Zlotowski; screenplay by Zlotowski and Robin Campillo[3](https://www.festival-deauville.com/films/planetarium/) |
| Production | France and Belgium, 2016; produced by Frédéric Jouve (Les Films Velvet, Les Films du Fleuve, France 3 Cinéma, Kinology)[4](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/306988/es/index/) |
| Principal cast | Natalie Portman (Laura Barlow), Lily-Rose Depp (Kate Barlow), Emmanuel Salinger (André Korben), Louis Garrel (Fernand Prouvé), Amira Casar (Eva Saïd)[2](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/planetarium) |
| Festival premieres | Out of competition at the 2016 Venice Film Festival; also at Toronto and the BFI London Film Festival in 2016[4](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/306988/es/index/) |
| Releases | France 16 November 2016; United States 11 August 2017[5](https://en.unifrance.org/movie/41093/planetarium) • [6](https://www.natalieportman.com/films/filmography/planetarium-2016/) |
| Runtime and language | 105 minutes; English and French[7](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/planetarium/) |
| Reception | Metascore 44 (13 critics); Tomatometer 15% (26 reviews); César nomination for Best Production Design[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/planetarium/) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/planetarium) • [10](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film117668.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film is set in Paris at the end of the 1930s, on the eve of World War II. Kate and Laura Barlow, two young American sisters, are finishing a world tour on which they perform as mediums, channeling lost spirits and departed loved ones.[1](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/planetarium/?lang=en) • [11](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/planetarium) One of their sessions brings them before André Korben, a renowned French producer and business tycoon, who offers them a contract: his team will conduct ambitious experiments on the pair and film the results, aiming to create the first truly authentic ghost film.[11](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/planetarium)
Korben casts Laura as the lead in his film opposite the matinee idol Fernand Prouvé ([Louis Garrel](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-garrel)) and works with his partners André Servier (Pierre Salvadori) and Eva Saïd ([Amira Casar](https://www.edgepedia.org/amira-casar)) to make the sisters famous. As the experiments grow more disturbing, Laura discovers a sinister plot that spirals into a contest of hidden agendas.[11](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/planetarium) The film's opening scene frames the story retrospectively: one actress catches another's eye in a darkened theater years later, and when asked when a fateful day occurred, the older one answers, "Before the war," adding, "you never know you're living before a war."[12](https://jfi.org/programs/jfi-film-archive/planetarium)
## Themes and style
The film mixes drama, fantasy, and mystery, and draws a parallel between movie-making and spiritualism: a film, like a séance, is a ghostly, semi-permanent image of people and places that will one day be lost to history.[13](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/planetarium-review/) Reviewers described it as part thriller, part science fiction, and part drama, reflecting on the magic of cinema, the illusion of artistic creation, and the boundaries of the unconscious.[1](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/planetarium/?lang=en)
**Visual approach.** Film at [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center) noted that Zlotowski forgoes traditional narrative structure in favor of atmosphere, reveling in the [Art Deco architecture](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-deco-architecture), sumptuous period couture, and doomed decadence of prewar Paris.[7](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/planetarium/) The Toronto Film Festival synopsis called the film lyrical and dreamlike, immersing viewers in a world where, as with cinema itself, reality and illusion intermingle.[2](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/planetarium)
## Production and background
Planetarium was Zlotowski's third feature, after *Belle épine* (2010) and *Grand Central* (2013).[14](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D237830.html) Filming began in September 2015.[6](https://www.natalieportman.com/films/filmography/planetarium-2016/) The production companies were Les Films Velvet, Les Films du Fleuve, France 3 Cinéma, and Kinology, with backing from the CNC, the [Île-de-France](https://www.edgepedia.org/ile-de-france) region, [Proximus](https://www.edgepedia.org/proximus), and RTBF.[4](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/306988/es/index/)
The character of André Korben is based on Bernard Natan, the foreign-born French film pioneer who was executed at Auschwitz.[12](https://jfi.org/programs/jfi-film-archive/planetarium) The cast also includes Alexandre Zloto as René-Lucien Chomette, better known as the filmmaker [René Clair](https://www.edgepedia.org/rene-clair).[15](https://filmuforia.com/planetarium-2016-lff-2016/)
The creative team included cinematographer George Lechaptois, editor Julien Lacheray, composer Robin Coudert, and production designer Katia Wyszkop, whose work earned a César nomination for Best Production Design.[2](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/planetarium) • [10](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film117668.html)
## Release and reception
The film premiered out of competition at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in 2016 and screened at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), the [BFI London Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/bfi-london-film-festival), the Viennale, and the Hong Kong French Film Festival the same year.[4](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/306988/es/index/) • [5](https://en.unifrance.org/movie/41093/planetarium) It was released in France on 16 November 2016.[5](https://en.unifrance.org/movie/41093/planetarium) Distribution in the United States came a full year after the festival premieres, on 11 August 2017.[6](https://www.natalieportman.com/films/filmography/planetarium-2016/)
**Critical response.** Reception was mixed to negative. The film scored 44 on Metacritic based on 13 critic reviews, classified as mixed or average, and 15% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 26 reviews.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/planetarium/) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/planetarium) On AlloCiné, press reviews averaged 3.1 out of 5 while audience ratings averaged 2.1.[14](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D237830.html) Critics frequently praised the film's look while faulting its structure: Screen Daily wrote that it "packs in so many ideas and themes, and boasts so many ravishing and enigmatic images, that it seems choked with riches,"[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/planetarium/) while Variety called it "an inert and slipshod movie, messy and aimless."[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/planetarium/) The Los Angeles Times found it "a singular, at times haunting experience."[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/planetarium) The film grossed $530,515.[6](https://www.natalieportman.com/films/filmography/planetarium-2016/)
## References
1. [Planetarium, Fondazione Prada](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/planetarium/?lang=en)
2. [Planétarium, Viennale](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/planetarium)
3. [Planétarium, Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville](https://www.festival-deauville.com/films/planetarium/)
4. [Planetarium (Planétarium), Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/306988/es/index/)
5. [Planetarium de Rebecca Zlotowski (2016), Unifrance](https://en.unifrance.org/movie/41093/planetarium)
6. [Planetarium (2016), NataliePortman.com](https://www.natalieportman.com/films/filmography/planetarium-2016/)
7. [Planetarium, Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/planetarium/)
8. [Planetarium Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/planetarium/)
9. [Planetarium, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/planetarium)
10. [Planetarium (2016), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film117668.html)
11. [Planetarium, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/planetarium)
12. [Planetarium, Jewish Film Institute](https://jfi.org/programs/jfi-film-archive/planetarium)
13. [Planetarium review, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/planetarium-review/)
14. [Planétarium, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D237830.html)
15. [Planetarium (2016) LFF review, Filmuforia](https://filmuforia.com/planetarium-2016-lff-2016/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2015 to 2019 › Drama films 2015 and 2016 › Released in 2016*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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