Best French Films of the 2010s

Populism and its Antidote

The second decade of the third millennium began well for French commercial cinema, with two highly original upbeat comedies (The Artist and Intouchables) drawing large audiences both at home and abroad. As the decade progressed, the mainstream took a distinct turn for the worse, regurgitating tried and tested formulae whilst scaling new heights of insipidity and asininity. The phenomenal success of Philippe de Chauveron's Qu'est-ce qu'on a encore fait au Bon Dieu? and its even more depressing sequel appears inexplicable, particularly as both films deal with France's most pressing concern today - racial intolerance - in the most offensively crass and flippant way imaginable. So, as the mainstream turns its back on the burning issues of our age (radicalisation, immigration, social inequality, climate change) and instead serves up innumerable sequels to such lowbrow fare as Les Tuche, Camping and Taxi, it is left to the burgeoning auteur sector to maintain French cinema's reputation for quality and intelligence. In this at least, there are reasons to be cheerful, and with plenty of French filmmakers of the calibre of Jérôme Bonnell, André Téchiné, Rebecca Zlotowski, Christophe Honoré and Philippe Faucon to engage our emotions and intellect we can expect France's auteur cinema to remain a beacon of hope in our troubled times, whilst its complacent mainstream counterpart follows our political leaders and sinks ever more deeply into the treacherous mire of self-serving populism. For a more complete list consult our best films index and complete films index.

Belle épine (2010)

Rebecca Zlotowski's startling debut film is a brutal portrait of adolescence that is intensified by a powerful performance from Léa Seydoux.

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Carlos (2010)

Olivier Assayas gives a vivid account of the murderous career of Carlos the Jackal, shedding light on the most notorious terrorist of the 1970s.

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Des hommes et des dieux (2010)

Winner of the Cannes Jury Prize in 2010, this film recounts with incredible emotional power the tragic fate of a group of Cistercian monks at the hands of Islamic extremists.

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Potiche (2010)

François Ozon is back on form with this lively battle of the sexes comedy, with a feisty Catherine Deneuve making her mark in a man's world.

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Un poison violent (2010)

Katell Quillévéré earned acclaim with her debut film, an astonishingly true to life coming-of-age drama distinguished by its lyricism and authentic performances.

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Angèle et Tony (2011)

Alix Delaporte's debut film is an engaging drama in which the unlikeliest of romances develops between two people from different worlds.

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Intouchables (2011)

This irresistible comedy attracted an audience of over 19 million and finds no end of fun in the unlikely friendship between a paraplegic aristocrat and his black carer.

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La Fée (2011)

Abel, Gordon and Romy deliver another delightful absurdist comedy which makes light of social deprivation in modern day France.

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La Guerre est déclarée (2011)

The perfect romance turns to tragedy when a young couple discover that their infant son has cancer in this highly seductive modern fairytale.

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L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close) (2011)

Life in a Parisian brothel of the early 1900s is tastefully presented by Bertrand Bonello in this stylish period piece.

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The Artist (2011)

This affectionate tribute to the silent era of Hollywood proved to be a worldwide hit, winning five Oscars and six Césars and making stars of both Jean Dujardin and his pooch Uggie.

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Amour (2012)

Winner of the 2012 Palme d'or at Cannes, this realist drama from Michael Haneke offers a solemn meditation on growing old and the power of love in the face of death, with strong performances from Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva.

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De rouille et d'os (2012)

Jacques Audiard's follow-up to Un prophète is this powerful drama in which Marion Cotillard plays a woman determined to rebuild her life after a crippling accident.

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Holy Motors (2012)

Who but Leos Carax could deliver the maddest and most vibrant French film of the decade? A surreal oddity of unbounded lunacy, Holy Motors reaches the parts that other madcap films can only dream of.

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Les Adieux à la reine (2012)

An intimate drama between two women - the Queen of France and an attendant - is played out against the backdrop of the French Revolution in this classy period piece from Benoît Jacquot.

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Louise Wimmer (2012)

This realist portrayal of a woman trying to get back on her feet after losing her home is rendered exquisitely poignant by Corinne Masiero's lead performance.

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La Vénus à la fourrure (2013)

Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric play out a bizarre game of seduction and domination in this enticing two-handed comedy-drama from Roman Polanski.

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La Vie d'Adèle (2013)

Abdellatif Kechiche and his two lead actresses shared the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2013 for this intense coming-of-age piece depicting a tempestuous lesbian love affair.

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L'Écume des jours (2013)

The dream pairing of Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou is the main attraction of this visually sumptuous fantasy from Michel Gondry, a daring and fairly unhinged adaptation of Boris Vian's cult novel Mood Indigo.

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Les Garçons et Guillaume à table (2013)

Actor-director Guillaume Gallienne netted five Césars (including that for Best Film) with this likeably zany comedy on the theme of gender identity based on his popular stage play.

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Aimer, boire et chanter (2013)

Based on a play by Alan Ayckbourn, Alain Resnais's final film provides a humorous and poignant meditation on the acceptance of death - a fitting swansong that boasts some memorably colourful performances.

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Eastern Boys (2014)

Robin Campillo's follow-up to his Les Revenants (2004) is another immigration-themed allegory that weaves together themes of domination, seduction and exploitation into a dark sensual fable of discovery.

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Saint Laurent (2014)

Bertrand Bonello's 'unofficial' biopic of Yves Saint Laurent is a cinematic tour de force that goes some way to deconstructing the myth surrounding France's greatest fashion icon.

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Tout est faux (2014)

Two thousand euros is apparently all it cost to make this, one of the most original and pertinent French films of the decade - a wry but irresistibly funny commentary on the vacuity of modern life.

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Asphalte (2015)

The abject solitariness of modern life provides a rich vein of humour and pathos in this off-kilter dramedy in which close friendships result from the most unlikely of encounters.

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Dheepan (2015)

The controversial winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2015 is this gritty social thriller from the director of 2009's highly acclaimed Un prophète, Jacques Audiard.

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Fou d'amour (2015)

Just how could a universally respected man of the cloth commit so heinous a crime that he would end up being guillotined? With characteristic verve, director Philippe Ramos weaves a bizarre sensual fable from a cause célèbre of the 1950s.

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Marguerite (2015)

Catherine Frot is in her element as the worst opera singer in history, moving her audience to tears and hysterics in this cruel but poignant near-biopic from Xavier Giannoli.

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Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse (2015)

Arnaud Desplechin's prequel to the film that first put him on the map is an enchanting and true-to-life portrayal of adolescent love that plays the nostalgia card for all it is worth.

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Vincent n'a pas d'écailles (2015)

Hailed by its director Thomas Salvador as France's first superhero film (made without a single digital effect), this quirky comedy about an ordinary Joe who becomes a superman on contact with water is as funny as it is breathtakingly original.

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