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Nikita

Nikita

Movie · 1990 · 3 people

Luc Besson wrote and directed the 1990 French-Italian action thriller Nikita (La Femme Nikita). It was Besson's first action film before Léon (1994) and ranks among the most internationally successful French-language films of the 1990s. Besson wrote it with his then partner Anne Parillaud in mind. It sold over three million tickets in France and won one of its nine 1991 César nominations, Best Actress for Parillaud.

The story follows a young woman with criminal leanings and a drug habit. Nikita and her gang try to rob a pharmacy; the heist becomes a shootout, her friends die, and she is arrested for killing a policeman and sentenced to a long prison term. The French secret service offers her a new identity and a choice: die, or kill for the state. Officially dead, she is trained harshly under Bob (Tchéky Karyo) and becomes a professional assassin. She does her missions while trying to balance an ordinary life with the man she loves.

Parillaud stars, with Karyo as Bob and Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Jean Reno in the cast. Its success led to remakes in Hong Kong (Black Cat, 1991), Hollywood (Point of No Return, 1993) and India (Kartoos, 1999), and to two television series (1997-2001, 2010-2013).

DirectorLuc Besson
Production companyGaumont Yapımevi

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Cast

Only cast members with a profile on this site are listed.

Tchéky Karyo Tchéky Karyo Actor · died at 72 Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau Film actor · died at 89 Jacques Boudet Jacques Boudet Actor · died at 89

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Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

A story that goes from a pharmacy robbery to prison to the secret service's brutal training, and that setup is a killer. A woman declared dead and turned into an assassin, trapped between dying and killing for the state. Anne Parillaud nails the role and earned that César. The pace dips a little when she's juggling her ordinary life with the missions, but the tension never snaps.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Besson's first action film, made before Léon, tries to fuse genre conventions with a character study. The script's real strength is its premise: a woman forced to choose between death and serving the state, and the split that her new identity brings. Anne Parillaud's performance holds the whole film up, and it's telling that of nine César nominations only hers turned into a win. Tchéky Karyo's Bob is cold without being one-dimensional. On the other hand, the shifts between missions and love story are sometimes clumsy, and the film never fully blends its two tones. Still, remakes from Hong Kong to Hollywood to India, plus two television series, prove what a sturdy template the idea is.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This isn't a family film. There are drugs, an armed robbery, a police officer killed and professional assassinations. Violence sits right at the centre of the story. Too heavy for children and teens, and some of it may feel harsh even for adults. Fine for adults who like action, but don't put it on with little ones around.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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