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Microcosmos

Original title: Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe

“15 years of research. 2 years of equipment design. 3 years of shooting. One great movie to restore your sense of wonder.”

1996 · 1 h 20 min
Directed by Claude Nuridsany · France · Contemporary European Art Cinema
Documentary

Where to watch in the United States: Stream: Criterion Channel. Streaming data from JustWatch via TMDB; availability changes.

Cast

Kristin Scott Thomas Jacques Perrin

Credits

Written by: Claude Nuridsany Marie Pérennou
Cinematography: Thierry Machado
Music: Bruno Coulais
Produced by: Christophe Barratier Yvette Mallet Jacques Perrin

Plot

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

Sinekatalog’s take

A mesmerising immersion in the insect world, where macro photography turns a meadow into a drama of epic scale. With almost no narration, it plays like a hushed visual symphony. Magical for children and adults alike.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

View on Letterboxd ↗

Ratings

IMDb: 7.9 / 10 (12,232 votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Metacritic: 87/100
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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