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Abstract: A model describing a macroscopic mechanism of the rupture of a free liquid film is introduced and analysed in the framework of the thin-film approximation. The process is shown to be driven by the surface-tension gradient arising when the rate of variation of the free-surface area due to external disturbances becomes comparable with the inverse surface-tension-relaxation time. The proposed mathematical description of the rupture phenomenon does not require the introduction of intermolecular forces into the equations of macroscopic fluid mechanics. To cite this article: Y.D. Shikhmurzaev, C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]