Petulia

Petulia (1968)

  • 91% of critics liked it
    (11 reviews)

  • 81% of users liked it
    (808 ratings)

Petulia is Richard Lester's ode to the Swinging Sixties: a time of psychedelic instability when neither those who were square, nor those who were hip, really had it right. George C. Scott is Archie Bollen, a divorced San Francisco doctor in the midst of "discovering himself." Julie Christie is… More

R, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By
Richard Lester
Written By
Larry Marcus, Barbara Turner
Genres
Drama, Romance, Classics
In Theaters
Jun 10, 1968 Wide
On DVD
Jun 20, 2006

Critic Reviews

  • Mark Bourne, Film.com

    ...an anti-The Graduate ... an essential film from and about America in the dying days of the '60s, yet the modernism of its style and ambitions makes Petulia impressively ahead of that time.

  • Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

    Jack-rabbiting technique embodies foreboding and dissonance rather than gimmicky whimsy

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    Innovative in narrative and style, Lester's dissection of mores and manners through marriages and affairs captures vividly the zeitgeist of the Summer of Love and the violent Vietnam War with brilliant turns from Julie Christie and George C. Scott.

  • Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

    Julie Christie in her Oscar role + Richard Lester direction. Enough said.

  • Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

    Petulia lives on with its vague curiosity and a genuine emotional sting.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • AJ V


    I don't remember this movie well, but I can tell you that the summary on here is totally wrong. Look it up on imdb, that's the real summary. Anyway, this is another one of those love and divorce and affair related movies. Pretty average, from what I remember.

  • jay n


    VERY 60's! Episodic and stream of conciousness. The clothes are great and Julie is luminous.

  • Doctor S


    Sometimes you really don't know what to say about a movie other than "that was one of the goofiest exercises in cinema I have seen in a long time." The main story is constantly intercut with short clips of future, past, or random events, incongruous moments and locales… More