What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedLa Belle Époque
Nicolas Bedos · Film · 2019
If you loved La Belle Époque, start with 18 Again (Ha Byung-hoon, 2020) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to La Belle Époque across media.
What hooked you in La Belle Époque was the poignant way characters attempt to reclaim lost time and confront their regrets.
Books on the same thread
Hotel Du Lac
Anita Brookner · Book · 2012
Explores: Exile, Self-Discovery, Romance.
Like the protagonist of La Belle Époque, Edith Hope seeks a controlled environment to process her life, finding that retreating into a curated space reveals truths about her own identity.
The Age of Innocence
Edith Wharton · Book · 2011
Explores: Forbidden Love, Social Class, Repression.
The struggle between societal expectations and personal yearning mirrors the marital disillusionment in La Belle Époque, capturing the same heavy weight of duty versus the desire for true connection.
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald · Book · 2004
Shares a thread with La Belle Époque: Nostalgia.
This classic echoes the core obsession found in La Belle Époque, focusing on a man’s desperate attempt to reconstruct a past romance that he believes holds the key to happiness.
Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert · Book · 1993
Explores: Boredom and ennui, Romantic disillusionment, Adultery and infidelity.
Much like the characters in La Belle Époque who use artifice to escape reality, Emma Bovary relies on romanticized fiction to cope with the crushing boredom of her actual marriage.
Series on the same thread
18 Again
Ha Byung-hoon · Series · 2020
Shares 2 threads with La Belle Époque: Second Chance, Nostalgia.
This series offers a direct companion to the midlife crisis seen in La Belle Époque, providing a fantastical second chance for a man to re-evaluate his marriage and choices.
Middlemarch
Series · 1994
Explores: Social constraints, Unfulfilled potential, Class differences.
If the social constraints and internal dissatisfaction in La Belle Époque resonated with you, this period drama offers a similar exploration of individuals trapped by their own unmet potential.
After Life
Ricky Gervais · Series · 2019
Shares a thread with La Belle Époque: Dramedy.
The cynical, grieving protagonist shares the same disillusioned worldview as the hero of La Belle Époque, forcing you to navigate the messy process of finding meaning after significant loss.
The Bureau
Éric Rochant · Series · 2015
Explores: Undercover Operations, Moral Ambiguity, Identity.
While darker in tone, this series mirrors the complex layers of identity and performance found in La Belle Époque, highlighting how we construct roles to survive in a difficult world.
Podcasts on the same thread
This American Life
This American Life · Podcast · 2026
Explores: The human condition, Personal narrative, Social observation.
These personal narratives capture the same bittersweet nostalgia for the human condition that permeates La Belle Époque, turning individual moments of regret and joy into compelling, reflective audio stories.
The Last Video Store
Podcast
Explores: Film history, Pop culture, Personal connection to film.
This podcast taps into the same love for cinema history and personal memory that drives the premise of La Belle Époque, celebrating how we use film to preserve our past.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is La Belle Époque about a man traveling back to his own past?
La Belle Époque follows Victor, a disillusioned 60-something man who uses a specialized company to recreate the specific week forty years earlier when he first met his true love, rather than physically traveling through time to his actual past.
What is the premise of La Belle Époque?
The film La Belle Époque centers on a man whose marriage is failing. He chooses to relive a pivotal week from his youth by hiring a company that constructs elaborate, immersive sets to replicate the time period of the customer's choosing.
Does La Belle Époque feature a company that helps people relive their memories?
Yes, the plot of La Belle Époque revolves around a unique service that allows customers to return to a chosen time period. Victor utilizes this company to revisit the week he met his true love decades before his current marital troubles.
How old is the protagonist in La Belle Époque?
In La Belle Époque, the protagonist Victor is in his sixties. He is a disillusioned man who decides to revisit the week he met his wife forty years prior to address his current unhappiness and the state of his marriage.