Breakdown: 1975

The documentary takes a single year: 1975. Through the films released that year it describes the state America was in. Vietnam had just ended, Watergate was recent, and the country did not trust its own account of itself. That same year produced Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Network, while Jaws brought into being the blockbuster model we know today. Morgan Neville directs and produces with Lauren Belfer. Jodie Foster narrates. The argument is double. 1975 is both the summit of the new Hollywood and the beginning of its end; exactly as the period in which studios gave directors room was producing its best work, it became clear that a single film could set the whole market, and the system changed. Among those speaking are Martin Scorsese, Ellen Burstyn, Oliver Stone, Seth Rogen and Bill Gates. The method is the essay film. The narrative is not chronological; clips, archive news and interviews are set side by side to build an argument. It was released on Netflix on 19 December 2025. Its weakness is scope. The claim to take a whole year leaves some films at the edge, and the thesis at times comes before the material. Who it is for: viewers who like seventies American cinema and documentaries on film history. Who it is not for: the density of reference is high without a knowledge of the films, and the narrative repeats its own thesis more than once.