Maigret and the Dead Lover (French: Maigret et le mort amoureux, originally titled Maigret et le crime de la rue de Bellechasse) is a 2026 French crime drama film written and directed by Pascal Bonitzer, and starring Denis Podalydès in the eponymous role. It is based on the 1960 novel Maigret et les Vieillards ("Maigret and the Old People") by Georges Simenon.
Contents
Plot
A former French ambassador, who has been carrying out a five decade affair with a recently widowed princess, is found murdered at the Quai d'Orsay, and the only evidence found are a series of suggestive letters between the two. Policeman Jules Maigret is tasked with discreetly investigating the matter.
Cast
Denis Podalydès as Commissaire Jules Maigret
Anne Alvaro as Jacotte
Manuel Guillot as Janvier
Irène Jacob as Madame Louise Maigret
Dominique Reymond as Princess Isi of Vuynes
Laurent Poitrenaux as Philippe de Vuynes
Micha Lescot as Mazeron
Julia Faure as Juliette
Jeremy Lewin as Cromière
Olivier Rabourdin as the prosecutor
Arcadi Radeff as Julien de Vuynes
Cyril Gueï as Lapointe
Matthieu Lucci as Lucas
Stéphane Mercoyrol as Moers
Nikola Krminac as PTS technician
Laure-Lucile Simon as Doctor Paul
Noël Simsolo as Abbot Gauge
Hugues Quester as Maître Aubonnet
Natalia Pujszo as Ludmilla, the saleswoman
Justinien Schricke as voice of radio journalist
Pierre-François Grunenwald as Client Mazeron
Osamu Morimoto as Client Mazeron
Charlotte Marciano as Secretary Aubonnet
Yannick Dyvrande as waiter at Brasserie Dauphine
Claire Rochelle as secretary prosecutor
Emma de Bermingham as Maggie
Clément Goyard as Vuynes head waiter
Gaëtan Galliod as Berthier-Lagès
Pierre Ewoudou as Bailiff Quai d'Orsay
Nicolas Ulrich as driver from Vuynes
André Marcon as Chief Inspector from Quai des Orfèvres
Production
In January 2024, filmmaker Pascal Bonitzer announced he would write and potentially direct an adaptation of the novel Maigret et les Vieillards, with the English title being Maigret in Society. By September, Denis Podalydès was cast as Maigret. Podalydès and Bonitzer had previously collaborated on the 1999 film Rien sur Robert.
Filming took place in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It lasted for five weeks from February to March 2025.
The film will take place in the early 2000s. The film's title was changed first to Maigret et le crime de la rue de Bellechasse ("Maigret and the Crime on Rue de Bellechasse"), and then finally Maigret et le mort amoureux ("Maigret and the Dead Man in Love"), with the English title becoming Maigret and the Dead Lover.
The film was released on February 18, 2026, the year marking Maigret's ninety-fifth anniversary. The initial audience reception has been generally positive thus far.