The Decline of the American Empire (French: Le Déclin de l'empire Américain) is a 1986 Canadian sex comedy-drama film directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Pierre Curzi and Dorothée Berryman.

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Université de Montréal History Professor Dominique St. Arnaud tells Diane about her new book, Variations on the Idea of Happiness, which discusses her thesis that modern society's fixation on self-indulgence is indicative of its decline, predicting a collapse in the "American Empire", of which Quebec is on the periphery.

During the dinner party, the friends listen to Dominique's theories about the decline of society, with Louise expressing skepticism.

To retaliate against Louise, Dominique reveals she has had sex with Rémy and their friend Pierre, causing her to have an emotional meltdown.

[4] He chose tenured university professors as his subject matter because he felt that such people had less of a Quebecois accent, which would make the film more accessible to French-speaking audiences around the world.

[5] As Arcand worked on the script, producer Roger Frappier saw the story as promising and lobbied René Malo to co-produce, allowing for a bigger budget.

[16] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, saying that despite the sexual dialogue, "the real subject is wit", and comparing it to My Dinner with Andre.

[17] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote "Not since Alain Tanner's Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 has there been a comedy that so entertainingly and successfully expresses itself through intelligent characters defined entirely in their talk", and called the cast, including Rémy Girard and Pierre Curzi, "excellent".

[18] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post found most characters unlikable but wrote "The Decline of the American Empire is certainly the year's most intellectual work, a frequently funny, unrepressed meditation on midnight in North America".

[19] Peter Keough of the Chicago Reader wrote "The laughs come easy in Decline, but also a bit guiltily when you recognize that this hip sex comedy is actually a reactionary tract", given what he saw as the ending's victory for "traditional heterosexuality" while the homosexual character had an STD.

[23] Shortly after the release of the sequel The Barbarian Invasions in 2003, the British Film Institute called The Decline of the American Empire "a witty and provocative look at the battle of the sexes".

[26] The film won nine Genie Awards in 1987, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Arcand.

This film, along with The Decline of the American Empire and The Barbarian Invasions, was considered to complete a trilogy "about where Western civilization stands in the run-up to and the aftermath of the new millennium".