Netflix releases Morgan Neville’s documentary Breakdown: 1975 on December 19, 2025, exploring how 1975’s turmoil gave rise to landmark films like Taxi Driver.
Netflix has set a December 19, 2025 release date for Breakdown: 1975, a new feature documentary by Morgan Neville that traces how a year of social and political upheaval helped reshape American cinema.
Narrated by Jodie Foster, the film examines the creative alchemy that turned national chaos into enduring art, focusing on the surge of influential films that emerged from that fraught moment. Neville’s documentary looks at how directors, writers and producers responded to 1975’s turbulence with movies that challenged audiences and changed the industry — films such as Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Network are key touchstones in the story the film tells.
The logline encapsulates the film’s thesis plainly: in 1975, as America wrestled with upheaval, filmmakers turned chaos into art. Neville spotlights that creative moment, offering viewers a cultural deep-dive into a pivotal year when bold storytelling and unnerving honesty gave rise to some of cinema’s most iconic works.
With Morgan Neville at the helm and Jodie Foster supplying the narration, Breakdown: 1975 positions itself as both a historical primer and a love letter to a daring era of moviemaking — timed to stream globally on Netflix this December.
