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Celluloid

Films from France

Best Movies from France

France's catalogue on Celluloid runs to 37 films spanning 1991–2026 across 8 languages — chiefly French and English —, led by Portrait of a Lady on Fire (90%) and A Prophet (88%). Every title is ranked by our four-input Celluloid Score with critic consensus and expert reviews on each film page.

Quick Answer

The highest-rated France film on Celluloid is Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) with a 90% Celluloid Score — Celluloid Pick.

37
Films indexed
80%
Avg. Celluloid Score
8
Languages
27
Critic reviews

Guide to France Movies on Celluloid

Each film from France in our catalogue includes a Celluloid Score from up to four verified inputs, original verdict text, and linked editorial reviews where available. Audience sentiment is separate.

Titles are indexed by original language and country of production for easier discovery.

Essential France Picks

Top 5 by Celluloid Score
Portrait of a Lady on Fire 2019 · Céline Sciamma · French

Sciamma's feminist romance burns slowly with formal rigor and devastating final glances.

90%
Celluloid Score Celluloid Pick
A Prophet 2009 · Jacques Audiard · French

Audiard's crime epic is a gripping bildungsroman forged in concrete and blood.

88%
Celluloid Score Recommended
Amour 2012 · Michael Haneke · French

Haneke's unflinching portrait of late-life love won the Palme d'Or and Best Foreign Film Oscar.

88%
Celluloid Score Recommended
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 2007 · Julian Schnabel · French

Schnabel transforms paralysis into poetry through subjective camera and luminous empathy.

88%
Celluloid Score Recommended
The Pianist 2002 · Roman Polanski · English

The Pianist — Palme d'Or at Cannes 2002. A landmark festival winner on Celluloid.

88%
Celluloid Score Recommended

France Movie Reviews

All reviews →

Full critic reviews with answer-engine summaries — each review answers whether the film is worth watching, what it is about, and where to stream it.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) ★★★★½

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Review: A French Classic

Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) endures as a defining romance landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
The Pianist (2002) ★★★★½

The Pianist (2002) Review

Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002) remains a defining Drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
A Prophet (2009) ★★★★½

A Prophet (2009) Review: A French Classic

Jacques Audiard's A Prophet (2009) endures as a defining crime landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Amour (2012) ★★★★½

Amour (2012) Review: A French Classic

Michael Haneke's Amour (2012) endures as a defining drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) ★★★★½

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) Review: A French Classic

Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) endures as a defining drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
La Haine (1995) ★★★★½

La Haine (1995) Review: A French Classic

Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine (1995) endures as a defining drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) ★★★★½

Anatomy of a Fall (2023) Review: A French Classic

Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall (2023) endures as a defining drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
The Artist (2011) ★★★★½

The Artist (2011) Review: A French Classic

Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist (2011) endures as a defining romance landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) ★★★★½

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Review

James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) remains a defining Action landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
Chicken for Linda! (2023) ★★★★☆

Chicken for Linda! Review: Grief and Gravy in Primary Colours

Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach's Chicken for Linda! turns a mother's quest to cook a chicken for her grieving daughter into a riotous, hand-painted farce — a bold, colour-coded French animation that hides real sorrow beneath the chaos.

A vibrant, wildly original animated comedy with a tender heart — brief, boisterous and quietly moving. A gem for grown-ups and children alike.
Souleymane's Story (2024) ★★★★★

Souleymane's Story Review: A Desperate Race Through Paris

Lojkine follows a delivery cyclist's frantic asylum deadline with urgent handheld immediacy, turning bureaucratic dread into pure cinematic tension.

A thriller where the clock is immigration policy — and it never stops ticking.
Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) ★★★★½

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) Review: A French Classic

Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) endures as a defining romance landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
Léon: The Professional (1994) ★★★★½

Léon: The Professional (1994) Review

Luc Besson's Léon: The Professional (1994) remains a defining Crime landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (2025) ★★★★½

Little Amélie Review: Childhood as Sensation, Color, and Loss

Maïlys Vallade adapts Amélie Nothomb's novel into animated childhood wonder — Loïse Charpentier's Amélie carries weighty ideas about identity with open eyes.

Tender, vivid, and surprisingly deep.
Amélie (2001) ★★★★½

Amélie (2001) Review: A French Classic

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie (2001) endures as a defining romance landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
Holy Cow (2024) ★★★★☆

Holy Cow Review: Rural Cheesemaking and Unexpected Sweetness

Louise Courvoisier finds unexpected sweetness in a teenager's clumsy attempt to hold his family together after his father's death.

A gentle French masterwork hiding in plain sight.
The Goldman Case (2023) ★★★★½

The Goldman Case Review: A Courtroom Thriller With Nowhere to Hide

Cédric Kahn confines nearly all the drama to one Paris courtroom, and Arieh Worthalter's combustible Pierre Goldman never lets the grip loosen.

Tense, talky, and riveting.
Nouvelle Vague (2026) ★★★★½

Nouvelle Vague Review: Linklater Channels Godard's Breathless Birth

Richard Linklater reconstructs the making of Breathless in a 90% French-language fever dream — Guillaume Marbeck's Godard is arrogant, romantic, and essential viewing for cinephiles tracking 2026's world-cinema leaderboard.

The year's essential French export — Metacritic midyear world cinema and Cannes pedigree in one package.
In the Land of Brothers (2024) ★★★½☆

In the Land of Brothers (2024) Review

Raha Amirfazli & Alireza Ghasemi's In the Land of Brothers (2024) remains a defining Drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Essential viewing — a certified classic.
The Intouchables (2011) ★★★★★

The Intouchables (2011) Review: A French Classic

Olivier Nakache's The Intouchables (2011) endures as a defining comedy landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.

Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
The Crime Is Mine (2023) ★★★½☆

The Crime Is Mine Review: Ozon's Parisian Farce Has Huppert and Style to Spare

François Ozon's 1930s murder farce pairs gorgeous production design with Isabelle Huppert in scene-stealing form — frothy, fun, and slightly slight.

Stylish entertainment that critics prefer to audiences.
The Lunchbox (2013) ★★★★☆

The Lunchbox (2013) Review: Mumbai’s Tenderest Wrong Delivery

Ritesh Batra, Irrfan Khan, and Nimrat Kaur — a mistaken dabba becomes one of Indian independent cinema’s great epistolary romances, and a Cannes Un Certain Regard breakout.

Essential — the Hindi film to show someone who thinks Bollywood is only stadiums.
Taste (2021) ★★★☆☆

Taste (2021) Review

Lê Bảo's Taste (2021) remains a defining Drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
Swimming Pool (2003) ★★★½☆

Swimming Pool (2003) Review

François Ozon's Swimming Pool (2003) remains a defining Crime landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Strongly recommended — holds up for new and returning viewers.
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) ★★★½☆

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) Review

Peter Webber's Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) remains a defining Drama landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Worth watching — solid entertainment with lasting cultural visibility.
Emilia Pérez (2024) ★★★☆☆

Emilia Pérez Review: The Bold Swing That Splits the Room

Jacques Audiard's Emilia Pérez fuses cartel thriller, gender-transition drama and full-blown musical into one operatic gamble — an undeniably singular film whose glib treatment of trans identity and Mexican violence made it the most contested title of its year.

Audacious, undeniably alive, and deeply flawed — a genre-scrambling spectacle that dazzles and offends in equal measure. Impossible to ignore, hard to defend.
Anna (2019) ★★★½☆

Anna (2019) Review

Luc Besson's Anna (2019) remains a defining Action landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Mixed — approach if the premise or cast specifically appeals.

Popular Genres

Drama 27 Romance 9 Crime 6 Thriller 5 Comedy 5 Action 3

All France Movies

Ranked by Celluloid Score

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best movies from France?

Browse our France catalogue sorted by Celluloid Score — the highest-rated films appear first with critic and audience ratings on every card.

How does Celluloid rate films from France?

Celluloid Score combines Celluloid editorial, Metascore, Letterboxd and IMDb inputs into a single percentage; audience sentiment is displayed separately alongside the written verdict and review.