Jeanne du Barry is a 2023 French-language historical drama film directed, co-written and produced by Maïwenn and starring herself and Johnny Depp in the leading roles.

It also stars Pierre Richard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noémie Lvovsky, Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, and India Hair.

Its plot centres on the life of Jeanne Bécu, who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.

They fall madly in love and, against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her relationship with the king scandalizes the court.

Louise of France, the king's youngest legitimate daughter, leaves Versailles to become a nun after taking exception to her father's mistress Jeanne.

Stephen Francis, Duke of Choiseul is the prime minister of France when the 16-year-old Dauphin marries the 15-year-old Marie Antoinette in 1770.

In spite of this, after the French Revolution, Zamor betrays Jeanne who is executed on 8 December 1793 for her association with the royals and being a countess even though she was a commoner before becoming a courtesan.

She was particularly drawn to the character of Madame du Barry, played by Asia Argento, and soon after, started reading biographies about her.

[9] After reading many biographies about du Barry and watching a lot of period films such as Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and Albert Serra's The Death of Louis XIV, Maïwenn started creating the outline for her own film.

When she presented the script to him after three years of writing, he declined in a matter of minutes, claiming, according to Maïwenn, that "cinema is dead" and that there was "only Netflix left".

[14] By July 2022, the film was revealed to have been acted in French, with Netflix handling distribution in France; Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud, Pascal Greggory, and India Hair were cast.

In it, she mentions that her staging for the film "is neither pop nor rock", unlike Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, but that she has taken liberties with it and that she is expecting "purists" to criticise her.

[34][35] Jeanne du Barry received an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 34 critics.

The website's consensus reads: "Heavily coiffed and perfumed as to cover up its plebeian status, Jeanne Du Barry waltzes aimlessly through a noble attempt at vindicating its eponymous femme.

Faced with the couple formed by Maïwenn and Johnny Depp, in osmosis, Benjamin Lavernhe recalls the extent of his talent.

"[40] Eric Neuhoff, writing for Le Figaro, gave the film 3 out of 4 stars calling it "brilliant, with the most pleasing effect".

"[42] Première's Thierry Chèze gave Jeanne du Barry 3 out of 5 stars, praising Maïwenn's direction and her and Depp's performance in the film, writing: "If Maïwenn seduces with her playful interpretation crossed by heartbreaking moments of Jeanne, Johnny Depp, with his charisma, his ability to say so much with a simple look or body movement, reigns over the film without crushing anyone."

[43] Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a subtle and well-crafted costume drama with plenty of satirical bite" and praising Depp's performance as Louis XV.

[46] In a positive review for Variety, Peter Debruge wrote that "Maïwenn taps into the emotional core of a most unusual relationship, such that we mourn how and why it eventually dissolves".