CQ

CQ (2001) is the feature directorial debut of Roman Coppola that you can watch online on iFILM — set in 1969 Paris on the chaotic production of a low-budget sci-fi spy film. Jeremy Davies plays Paul, an American editor who gets promoted to director mid-shoot after his predecessor unravels, while quietly working on a personal 16mm diary film on the side.

The producer, played by Gérard Depardieu, wants a flashy ending for the spy picture. Paul wants to make something real. Angela Lindvall plays Dragonfly, the silver-suited secret agent inside the film-within-the-film — and the line between Paul's professional infatuation and genuine feeling blurs fast. Jason Schwartzman, Giancarlo Giannini and Billy Zane fill out a cast that leans into the period's playful excess.

Coppola's debut is less a plot-driven film than a meditation on what it means to make something personal inside a commercial machine — dressed up in the colors and rhythms of 1960s European cinema. It wears its influences openly: Godard, Vadim, Fellini. Stream CQ (2001) online on iFILM.