30 must-seen French movies
List activity
371 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
30 titles
- DirectorPatrice ChéreauStarsIsabelle AdjaniDaniel AuteuilJean-Hugues AngladeYoung Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.
- DirectorMathieu KassovitzStarsVincent CasselHubert KoundéSaïd Taghmaoui24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsCatherine DeneuveGérard DepardieuJean PoiretIn occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Germans while doing both of their jobs.
- DirectorClaude MillerStarsCharlotte GainsbourgDidier BezaceSimon de La BrosseIn a small town in post-World-War-II France, an unhappy sixteen-year-old (Janine Castang) tries to escape her dreary situation by any means at her disposal. Three successive friends (Michel Davenne, a married lover; Raoul, a fellow thief; Mauricette Dargelos, a photographer and fellow prisoner) help her learn from her mistakes.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsCatherine DeneuveJean SorelMichel PiccoliA frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsGaspard ManesseRaphael FejtöFrancine RacetteA French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsRomain DurisAure AtikaEmmanuelle DevosWill Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.
- DirectorCédric KlapischStarsRomain DurisJudith GodrècheKelly ReillyA strait-laced French student moves into an apartment in Barcelona with a cast of six other characters from all over Europe. Together, they speak the international language of love and friendship.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsYves MontandMichel AlbertiniRoland AmstutzConspiracy thriller inspired by the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of JFK. After a fictional president is assassinated, a determined, tough prosecutor investigates the emerging conspiracy behind it.
- DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVincent CasselCécile de FranceGérard DepardieuThe story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life before the early 1970s and the events that led to him being declared Public Enemy No. 1 in France.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsTahar RahimNiels ArestrupAdel BencherifA delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsRenaudGérard DepardieuMiou-MiouIn mid-nineteenth-century northern France, a coal mining town's workers are exploited by the mine's owner. One day, they decide to go on strike, and the authorities repress them.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsEverett McGillRon PerlmanNicholas KadiThis story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsGérard LanvinBéatrice DalleVincent LindonJesus is a French gypsy who might have become a bull fighter had he not been framed on a drug charge and sent to prison. Odona is a con artist pursued and protected by a Paris policeman. Marie, who knew Jesus as a girl, loses her job when she teaches reincarnation and lets her young students kiss honey bees. All experience love, all suffer losses, and all seek peace. Throughout, Jesus's colorful gypsy family provides dance and music, mystery and celebration. As part of the reincarnation theme, the main characters appear in flashbacks set during the time of Christ and the persecution of early Christians.
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsOleg MenshikovSandrine BonnaireCatherine DeneuveIn June 1946, Stalin invites the Russian exiled from the 1917 Revolution to return home. When the ships comes ashore in Odessa, the passengers are divided in two groups and one of them is executed. Among the survivors are Dr. Aleksei Golovin, his French wife Marie and their young son. Marie is accused to be a spy, her French passport is torn up and Aleksei accepts to move to Kyiv with his family to save her. They are sent to a room in a communal house and soon Marie befriends the super, an old woman who speaks French. But she is denounced and killed by the government agents. Marie feels guilty and brings her grandson Sasha Vasilyev, who will be evicted, to live in her room with her family. Marie wants to return to her family in France, but Aleksei explains that they are imprisoned in Russia. Marie tries a contact with the leftist French actress Gabrielle Develay to ask for help to leave the USSR. While Marie gets distant from her husband, she gets closer to Sacha, who is a great swimmer and the only chance to Marie contact her family.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsVincent CasselEmmanuelle DevosOlivier GourmetShe is almost deaf and he lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsTchéky KaryoBart the BearYouk the BearAn orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.
- DirectorOlivier DahanStarsMarion CotillardSylvie TestudPascal GreggoryBiopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
- DirectorRégis RoinsardStarsRomain DurisFéodor AtkineDéborah François1958. Rose is a terrible secretary but a demon typist. Her handsome boss resolves to turn her into the fastest girl in the world.
- DirectorClaude MillerStarsLino VenturaMichel SerraultRomy SchneiderA police inspector, suspecting an attorney of two child sex murders, has him held for a questioning session that goes on for hours.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsJean RenoGary OldmanNatalie Portman12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
- DirectorJosiane BalaskoStarsVictoria AbrilJosiane BalaskoAlain ChabatAfter learning of her husband's infidelities, a housewife invites an itinerant lesbian to move in with them. None of their lives will ever be the same again.
- DirectorColine SerreauStarsColine SerreauVincent LindonJames ThierréeOn a distant planet, rural vegans master telepathy and mental power to travel interstellar etc. Mila is sent to Earth to report back. She lands in Paris - quite a cultural shock. Earthlings are strange.
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsYves MontandGérard DepardieuDaniel AuteuilA greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
- DirectorÉric LartigauStarsAlain ChabatCharlotte GainsbourgBernadette LafontLuis enjoys the liberty of being single. He has a smell for perfumes and thus money. However, his 5 sisters and mom believe that at 43, he should be looking for a wife, not one-night stands. They find candi/dates. He hires a "fiancée".
- DirectorAgnès JaouiStarsAnne AlvaroJean-Pierre BacriAlain ChabatThe lives of 6 people over 35 in Rouen, France, and their relationship to each other.
- DirectorOlivier NakacheÉric ToledanoStarsFrançois CluzetOmar SyAnne Le NyAfter he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.