French filmmaker and critic Jacques Rivette was known for relying primarily on a loose narrative with lots of improvisation in his long films. None of that is in the short Fool’s Mate, seen by some historians as one of the first films of the New Wave movement.

Fool’s Mate is perhaps Rivette's best-known short film—and with good reason: its tight camera work captures an intriguing and mysterious romance. The intriguing screenplay has a high noir content due to its many deceptions. French New Wave fans can also feast on a scene in which Rivette and his contemporaries Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, and François Truffaut party together.