New French movies in 2021 in Cinema & on VOD
Top movies up for release in 2021 in cinema and on VODFrance
DIRECTOR: Bruno Dumont CAST: Léa Seydoux, Blanche Gardin & Benoît Magimel Balancing a career and a personal life is not easy for celebrity journalist France de Meurs (Léa Seydoux). But her life may change completely after a freak car accident turns her world upside down in this somber drama of trying to rebuild your life when it has fallen to pieces. Written and directed by Bruno Dumont (Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc, Camille Claudel 1915), the film additionally stars Blanche Gardin and Benoît Magimel. Read more
Watch the trailer of France
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Eiffel
DIRECTOR: Martin Bourboulon CAST: Emma Mackey, Romain Duris & Pierre Deladonchamps The story behind France’s most iconic of towering landmarks is revealed in this biographical drama. The 1889 Paris World Fair looms and the French government is seeking something grand to display at such an event. Gustave Eiffel plans on building a subway despite the government desiring something less simple. Those change, however, when a woman from the past comes back into Eiffel’s life and not only changes his mind about the project to pursue but forces him to come to terms with what he left behind. Read more
Watch the trailer of Eiffel
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Mandibules
DIRECTOR: Quentin Dupieux CAST: Grégoire Ludig, David Marsais & Anaïs Demoustier Jean-Gab and Manu are too simple friends who make an unorthodox discovery. Found within the trunk of a car is a giant fly. What they plan do with such a miraculous uncovering is train the fly to be of great use themselves. Perhaps with enough training the giant fly will make them some money. This ridiculous French-Belgian comedy comes from director Quentin Dupieux (Deerskin, Keep an Eye Out) and stars David Marsais, Grégoire Ludig, Adèle Exarchopoulos, India Hair, Roméo Elvis, Coralie Russier, and Bruno Lochet. Read more
Watch the trailer of Mandibules
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
The Big Hit
DIRECTOR: Emmanuel Courcol CAST: Kad Merad, Marina Hands & Laurent Stocker Director Emmanuel Courcol helms this offbeat comedy about plays and prisoners. The struggling actor Etienne is desperate for work and thus takes on the task of guiding a theater workshop within a prison. However, he finds the troupe rather hard to work with that trying to stage Waiting for Godot may be a difficult task. Only with some outside inspiration does Etienne finally get these prisoners to come out of their shells and onto the stage in this unique comedy about putting on a show. Read more
Watch the trailer of The Big Hit
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Annette
DIRECTOR: Leos Carax CAST: Michelle Williams Adam Driver After his wife dies, a comedian has to raise his 2 year old daughter by himself. Read more
Watch the trailer of Annette
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Netflix | 
Amazon 
Best French movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ or DVD in 2021
2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and the 2010's best rated French movies out on DVD, Bluray or streaming on VOD (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ & More).Portrait of a Lady on Fire
DIRECTOR: Céline Sciamma CAST: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel & Luàna Bajrami One of our favorite French directors Celine Sciamma returns with her first feature film since the brilliant 'Girlhood'. 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' is a beautiful historical love story about an 18th-century female painter who is given the difficult task to portray a rebellious young woman. Read more
Watch the trailer of Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Stream Portrait of a Lady on Fire via: 
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
The Truth
DIRECTOR: Hirokazu Koreeda CAST: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche & Ethan Hawke Japanese star director Hirozu Kooreda first French feature is one to look forward to. Julliete Binoche plays a woman who, after living in the US for years, reunites with her arrogant, actress mother (Catherine Deneuve) in France. Read more
Watch the trailer of The Truth
Stream The Truth via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
By The Grace of God
DIRECTOR: François Ozon CAST: Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Josiane Balasko Thematically somewhat similar to 1996's 'Sleepers', 'By the Grace of God' tells the story of three men who seek to confront the priest that abused them in their youth. Read more
Watch the trailer of By The Grace of God
Stream By The Grace of God via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Nous Finirons Ensemble
DIRECTOR: Guillaume Canet CAST: Marion Cotillard, François Cluzet, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche Nine years after the highly successful French ensemble dramedy 'Little White Lies', director/actor Guilliaume Canet returns with a highly anticipated sequel. Read more
Watch the trailer of Nous Finirons Ensemble
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
The Guardians
DIRECTOR: Xavier Beauvois CAST: Nathalie Baye, Laura Smet, Iris Bry, Cyril Descours The Guardians or Les Gardiennes tells the tale of women left behind during the war. They were left to reap a bitter harvest. Xavier Beauvois, best known for Of Gods and Men, wrote and directed this great French drama. Read more
Watch the trailer of The Guardians
Stream The Guardians via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Non Fiction
DIRECTOR: Olivier Assayas CAST: Olivia Ross Juliette Binoche Guillaume Canet After focussing on the Parisian fashion scene in his mysterious latest effort 'Personal Shopper', Olivier Assayas turns his eye on the publishing world in 'Non Fiction'. Evolving around an editor and a writer who have problems keeping up with the changing industry (and their wives' desires), this one is one of Assayas' most light-hearted movies to date. Read more
Watch the trailer of Non Fiction
RATING: 85/100
Stream Non Fiction via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Image and Speech
DIRECTOR: Jean-Luc Godard CAST: N/A Five stories, seemingly unconnected. A new elliptical movie by French cinema icon Jean-Luc Godard. Read more
Watch the trailer of Image and Speech
Stream Image and Speech via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Maya
DIRECTOR: Mia Hansen-Løve CAST: Juliette Binoche, Roman Kolinka, Cédric Kahn After being held hostage in Syria, a French war reporter sets off to India. The new film from Mia Hansen-Løve ('L'Avenir', 'Un amour de jeunesse '), one of the most important voices in contemporary French cinema. Read more
Watch the trailer of Maya
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Ava
DIRECTOR: Léa Mysius CAST: Noée Abita Laure Calamy Juan Cano When a 13-year old girl finds out she is about to lose her sight within months, she decides to make the most out of the next summer. Read more
Watch the trailer of Ava
RATING: 81/100
Stream Ava via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Elle
DIRECTOR: Paul Verhoeven CAST: Isabelle Huppert Laurent Lafitte Anne Consigny Paul Verhoeven's brilliant return to form is a wildly funny and disturbing tale of a woman (Isabelle Huppert) determined to avenge her rapist. This might sound like your average exploitation revenge flick, but it isn't like anything you've seen! Read more
Watch the trailer of Elle
RATING: 73/100
Stream Elle via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Bande de Filles
DIRECTOR: Céline Sciamma CAST: Karidja Touré Assa Sylla Lindsay Karamoh Sciamma is a master in potraying the growing pains of young girls. Naissance de Pieuvres dealt with a fourteen year old girl falling in love with another girl at a swimming pool during a hot long summer and Tomboy told the story of a ten year old cross dresser. Her latest effort is without a doubt her strongest; yet again a beautifully photographed film about a teenage girl from the outskirts of Paris dealing with love, friendship and gender issues. Please make sure to check out our LGBT list to read more on Sciamma’s films. Read more
Watch the trailer of Bande de Filles
RATING: 69/100
Stream Bande de Filles via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Eastern Boys
DIRECTOR: Robin Campillo CAST: Robin Campillo Gilles Marchand Part thriller, part romance gay drama, Eastern Boys tells the story of Daniel, a middle-aged Parisian men who embarks on a potentially dangerous romantic relationship with a young immigrant from Eastern Europe. In his naivety, he invites the boy over at his house, unaware of his dangerous friends who use Daniel merely as a bait. Eastern Boys is one of those rare hybrid films which is both tender during its romantic scenes and nerve-wracking during others. Read more
Watch the trailer of Eastern Boys
RATING: 69/100
Stream Eastern Boys via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Jeune et Jolie
DIRECTOR: François Ozon CAST: Marine Vacth Géraldine Pailhas Frédéric Pierrot One of my favorite modern French filmmakers, François Ozon, never fails to beautifully frame intimate interpersonal dramas, often touching upon controversial and almost juicy topics, with great honesty and sincerity. Perhaps best known for his English/French spoken ‘thriller film’ Swimming Pool (2003), and more recently with one of the best French films of 2012, Dans la Maison (2012), Ozon released the highly anticipated Jeune et Jolie aka Young and Beautiful in early 2013. His film, featuring the astonishing Marine Vacth (above), portraits the story of a 17-year old upper-class Parisian girl who takes the exploration of sexuality to a whole new level by secretly trying her luck as a call girl. Jeune et Jolie, not unlike most Ozon films, is a visual treat, but perhaps lacks the depth of his previous films. Despite the often heard critique that the film is slightly superficial, Jeune et Jolie remains an absolute must-watch because it succeeds in making the viewer relate to – and understand the desire to sell your body, and the odd sense of satisfaction it accomplishes Read more
Watch the trailer of Jeune et Jolie
RATING: 68/100
Stream Jeune et Jolie via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Les Salauds
DIRECTOR: Claire Denis CAST: Vincent Lindon Chiara Mastroianni Julie Bataille An a-typical ‘revenge’ film-noir that through mesmerizing yet disturbing scenes unfolds into a genre film without you realizing it. Completely stripped of actual action scenes, Les Salauds gets under your skin slowly, and does not let go until the end. The amazingly intuitive and visual storytelling by the experienced Claire Denis, keeps you in a constant a state of pleasant bewilderment, never really getting a grip on the characters, but strongly feeling their emotions. In the lead we find Marco, played by Vincent Lindon (Welcome, 2009)) who returns to Paris to target the man who Marco’s sister holds responsible for the suicide of her husband. Read more
Watch the trailer of Les Salauds
RATING: 61/100
Stream Les Salauds via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Venus in Fur
DIRECTOR: Roman Polanski CAST: Emmanuelle Seigner Mathieu Amalric Admittedly, the trailer of Venus in Fur, Roman Polanski’s latest project, is anything but inviting. Fortunately the film itself shows the genius of Roman Polanski, and deserves a place amongst the best French films 2013. The film is, in a nutshell, about an actress who desperately wants to persuade a director to cast her for a role in his play. La Vénus à la fourrure is very well received, and as not uncommon for Polanski films has also polarized the audience. Read more
Watch the trailer of Venus in Fur
RATING: 73/100
Stream Venus in Fur via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
L’inconnu du Lac
DIRECTOR: Alain Guiraudie CAST: Pierre Deladonchamps Christophe Paou Patrick d'Assumçao In the current influx of gay-themed films L’inconnu du Lac is the top of the bill. It is magnificently subtle and spectacularly in-your-face at the same time. Placed in a Eric Rohmer kind of setting at a picturesque French lake where men come to spend their summer days, and occasionally have intercourse in the nearby woods. One of the sun and sex worshippers is Franck who falls in love with the attractive and manly Michel, one of the other guests, although he knows full well that Michel cannot be trusted and is highly dangerous. The film gives the viewer a great sense of the local gay-scene, and despite that the film is largely a very light story, it at one point slowly transforms into a dark yet subtle thriller. A modern French film by Alain Guiraudie (Le roi de l’évasion, 2009) that could truly become a cult classic. Read more
Watch the trailer of L’inconnu du Lac
RATING: 69/100
Stream L’inconnu du Lac via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Clouds of Sils Maria
DIRECTOR: Olivier Assayas CAST: Juliette Binoche Kristen Stewart Chloë Grace Moretz Very recently, it was announced that Kristen Stewart is the first American actress in over a thirty years to be nominated for a César Award, the French equivalent of the Oscar. If it had not been sufficiently proved yet, then Clouds of Sils Maria absolutely does: there’s more to Stewart than that sulky girl in love with vampires. In Clouds, Kristen Stewart plays the agent of an aging actress Maria(Binoche) who becomes haunted by her past as she takes on a role in a play that once launched her career. The two rehearse in a remote villa in the French Alps, which ends up in a psychological clash between the young and the aging as Maria has to come to terms with her fading career. Read more
Watch the trailer of Clouds of Sils Maria
RATING: 68/100
Stream Clouds of Sils Maria via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
La Vie D’Adele
DIRECTOR: Abdellatif Kechiche CAST: Léa Seydoux Adèle Exarchopoulos Salim Kechiouche While the editors of Cahier du Cinema felt that L’inconnu du Lac topped La Vie d’Adele, I personally prefer the intimate, (lets just say it) voyeuristic portrait of a young French girl who is unsure of her sexual orientation in La Vie d’Adele. It is without a doubt the best French film of 2013 (for the US and UK 2014). In this coming of age story we follow Adele, a high schooler, who starts her first lesbian relationship with an enigmatic older bohemian artist played by Lea Seydoux. The film was immediately recognized for what it is, a masterpiece. It was honored with the Palme d’Or prize at Cannes Filmfestival, and the two female leads got special mentions. Besides much critical acclaim, there were non-sense objections made against the 10 minute love scene which was described as pornographic. The film got extra juicy when later on Seydoux and Exarchopoulos accused the French-Tunisian director of not making them feel comfortable and because of the harsh working conditions made them feel like prostitutes. In sum, more than enough reason to go see it. Read more
Watch the trailer of La Vie D’Adele
RATING: 95/100
Stream La Vie D’Adele via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Happy End
DIRECTOR: Michael Haneke CAST: Isabelle Huppert Mathieu Kassovitz Jean-Louis Trintignant The ever-brilliant director Michael Haneke returns with a delightfully sour new film about a rich family falling apart. Where Haneke's movies tend to be pitch-black, 'Happy Ending' is surprisingly funny. Read more
Watch the trailer of Happy End
RATING: 92/100
Stream Happy End via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Réparer les vivants
DIRECTOR: Katell Quillévéré CAST: Tahar Rahim Emmanuelle Seigner Anne Dorval A surgeon, a surfer and a middle-aged women... There are plenty of ensemble films where the lives of very different people intersect. Too many maybe. 'Heal the living' follows the same concept on paper, but Katell Quillévéré's beautiful and unsentimental style of directing make this film a true standout in an overcrowded niche. Read more
Watch the trailer of Réparer les vivants
RATING: 81/100
Stream Réparer les vivants via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Rock’n Roll
DIRECTOR: Guillaume Canet CAST: Guillaume Canet Marion Cotillard Philippe Lefebvre Rock' n Roll is the new project by actor/director Guillaume Canet, a funny and highly autobiographical tale where he plays himself as a director who wants to prove he's still got 'the touch' as an artist. Read more
Watch the trailer of Rock’n Roll
RATING: 77/100
Stream Rock’n Roll via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
The Mercy
DIRECTOR: James Marsh CAST: Rachel Weisz Colin Firth David Thewlis Much against his wife's will, a yachtsman decides to sail around the world solo. Read more
Watch the trailer of The Mercy
RATING: 73/100
Stream The Mercy via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
High Life
DIRECTOR: Claire Denis CAST: Robert Pattinson Mia Goth Juliette Binoche A bunch of convicts are being send away in space to find a black hole. Read more
Watch the trailer of High Life
Stream High Life via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Eva
DIRECTOR: Benoît Jacquot CAST: Isabelle Huppert Gaspard Ulliel Julia Roy A playwright is seduced by a femme fatale/prostitute (Isabelle Huppert). Read more
Watch the trailer of Eva
RATING: 80/100
Stream Eva via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Black Tide
DIRECTOR: Erick Zonca CAST: Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Charles Berling A detective (Vincent Kassel) has to resolve the murder of a child. At the same time, his estranged son tries to reconnect with him. Read more
Watch the trailer of Black Tide
Stream Black Tide via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Coincoin and the Extrahumans
DIRECTOR: Bruno Dumont CAST: N/A A sequel to Dumont's acclaimed detective comedy 'P'tit Quinquin', this upcoming film detective Commandant Van der Weyden investigating mysterious lava... Read more
Watch the trailer of Coincoin and the Extrahumans
Stream Coincoin and the Extrahumans via: '
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Proxima
DIRECTOR: Alice Winocour CAST: Eva Green, Lars Eidinger & Matt Dillon A female astronaut has to endure a tough training period, before she's able to leave on her mission. Read more
Watch the trailer of Proxima
Stream Proxima via:
Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
I do not think that in the last decade I have been able to put together such a hugely diverse list consisting of 8 French films that each are masterpieces in their own right. 2013’s list gives the French cinephile more than he could ever hope for – it has romance, comedy, thrillers, but mainly interpersonal dramas revolving around themes such as sexuality & lust (in six out of the eight films our desires of the flesh are recurrent themes).
