My Night at Maud’s

The events unfold during the Christmas season in the early 1960s, including a Christmas Eve and a subsequent journey to the mountains, with a jump forward by five years. The period is marked by intellectual salons and traditional values clashing with modern attitudes toward romance and fidelity.

The story is largely set in Clermont-Ferrand, a central French city known for its Michelin ties. The characters move between a church, Maud's apartment, and a mountain village trip, with snow shaping mood and decisions. The winter atmosphere reinforces themes of faith, desire, and restraint in a traditional French Catholic milieu.

🙏 Religion

Religious belief versus secular doubt is at the story’s core, sparked by Jean-Louis’s Catholic commitments and Vidal’s atheistic philosophy. The conversations at Maud's apartment, plus Pascal references, probe how faith influences love and people’s decisions. The film uses dialogue to explore whether religious duty can coexist with human longing. The tension between piety and desire drives the characters to re-evaluate their choices.

💖 Love

Love is portrayed as a complicated, evolving force rather than a simple fate. Jean-Louis pursues Françoise while also entangled with Maud, testing honesty, commitment, and boundaries. The film tracks how past affairs and present desires shape trust and the willingness to take risks in relationships. Ultimately, the characters must decide how to balance affection with personal integrity.

🧠 Philosophy

Philosophical debate frames the interactions, as Vidal, a philosophy professor, challenges Jean-Louis’s worldview. The characters dissect Pascal, morality, and the nature of happiness during long conversations that feel as much about ideas as about people. This cerebral layer contrasts with the emotional negotiation of romance, highlighting the clash between intellect and emotion. The plot uses these dialogues to reveal character motivations and inner conflicts.