Pacifiction
Dir. Albert Serra
It doesn’t feel quite right to call Pacifiction a political thriller — at 2 hours 45 minutes and with an…
La Belle Noiseuse
Dir. Jacques Rivette
When it comes to work, most apply to a job, take a 9-5 role for some decades, and then retire…
Jean de Florette
Dir. Claude Berri
As the Provence countryside is painted in golden sunshine, Jean de Florette seems like a straightforward period drama, celebrating the…
Story of Women
Dir. Claude Chabrol
Based on the true story of the last French woman executed by guillotine, Story of Women depicts wartime survival under…
Taxi
Dir. Jafar Panahi
What does a filmmaker do when you’re banned from making movies? For their safety, they might move abroad or switch…
Clouds of Sils Maria
Dir. Olivier Assayas
The film for which Kristen Stewart became the first American actress to win the César Award. The Twilight star turned…
Read My Lips
Dir. Jacques Audiard
In my own wished-for parallel universe, French actors Vincent Cassell and Emanuelle Devos are voted the sexiest actors alive. I…
Frantz
Dir. François Ozon
It’s always fun to watch something that makes you second guess each move, that shifts seamlessly from one thing to…
Mustang
Dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven & Female director
Five orphaned sisters are put under house arrest by their uncle and grandmother after they are seen horsing around with…
In the House
Dir. François Ozon
Frankly, the characters of In The House are in dire need for some therapy after the events of the film.…
La Femme Nikita
Dir. Luc Besson
Before assassin protege Mathilda in Léon the Professional, humanoid Leeloo in The Fifth Element, and superpowered drug mule Lucy in…
The Measure of a Man
Dir. Stéphane Brizé
If you’ve ever seen a movie by kings of social realism Ken Loach or the Dardenne brothers, you’ll recognize the…
Rust and Bone
Dir. Jacques Audiard
This is the type of movie I completely fell in love with but cannot articulate exactly why. Maybe it’s the…
La Haine
Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
At the risk of being cliché, I’m going to state that only the French could have made a movie about…
Three Colors: Red
Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows…
A Christmas Tale
Dir. Arnaud Desplechin
When their regal matriarch falls ill, the troubled Vuillard family come together for a hesitant Christmastime reunion. Among them is…
Under the Sand
Dir. François Ozon
When her husband goes missing at the beach, a female professor begins to mentally disintegrate as her denial of his…
The Taste of Others
Dir. Agnès Jaoui
Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine’s tragedy “Berenice” in order to see his niece play a bit…
La Belle Époque
Dir. Nicolas Bedos
Victor, a disillusioned 60-something whose marriage is on the rocks, opts to relive the week of his life when, 40…
Of Gods and Men
Dir. Xavier Beauvois
A group of Trappist monks reside in the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, where they live in harmony with the…
Days of Glory
Dir. Rachid Bouchareb
1943. They have never stepped foot on French soil but because France was at war, Said, Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir…
The Dinner Game
Dir. Francis Veber
For Pierre Brochant and his friends, Wednesday is “Idiots’ Day”. The idea is simple: each person has to bring along…
Betty Blue
Dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix
Betty Blue looks gorgeous. Of course, as an erotic film, there’s the beauty of the female form, but Jean-Jacques Beineix…
Stranger by the Lake
Dir. Alain Guiraudie
Rarely do we get to see the human body in its natural state in public, mostly limited to nude beaches,…