France

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1:47

France

2021

2h 13m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

67%

Tomatometer

70 Reviews

36%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

In FRANCE, a satirical drama set in contemporary Paris, Léa Seydoux stars as France de Meurs, a seemingly unflappable superstar TV journalist whose career, home life, and psychological stability are turned upside down after she carelessly drives into a young delivery man on a busy street. This unexpected eruption of reality triggers a series of self-reckonings as well as a strange romance that proves impossible to shake. As France attempts to slow down and retreat into a simpler, anonymous life, her fame continues to pursue her. Starting out as a tragicomic satire of the news media, writer-director Bruno Dumont's provocative new film spirals out into something darker as it examines the difficulty of maintaining one's sense of self in a corrosive culture.

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Critics Consensus

France might have benefited from a more passionate approach to its themes, but Léa Seydoux leads an amusing send-up of celebrity culture.

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Giovanni Marchini Camia

Sight & Sound

May 14

Bruno Dumont presents an excoriating satire of sensationalist TV news, as symbolised by Léa Seydoux’s eponymous reporter and her overdue spiritual crisis.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

01/03/2023

4/5

We’re accustomed to Dumont leapfrogging from one genre to another, but he has seldom attempted so many swerves and shifts as he manages here. France, like the director, makes for a pleasing guessing game.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

01/03/2023

1/5

Doughty Léa Seydoux does her best with this toothless and tedious media satire, but not even two hours of verklempt close-ups can save a movie with so little to say.

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Ryan Swen

Taipei Mansions

Sep 5

It’s uncommon for a film that’s otherwise this glossy to spend the contemplation that’s apparent here.

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Jens B

@Jens97 May 12

"France" is mind-numbingly boring and banal. If the film has one redeeming quality, it is that its flat visual aesthetic perfectly matches its substance. Léa Seydoux looks stunning in her Louis Vuitton outfits, but otherwise spends the film looking—alternately—as if she is suffering from either constipation or diarrhea. If all of this is intended as a meta-commentary on the media industry in general, and the film (and awards) circuit in particular, then… congratulations? Ultimately, "France" amounts to nothing more than a waste of time. A drinking game might make this film more bearable: Take a shot every time Seydoux changes costumes (which is practically every scene). The film's highlight: After 105 minutes that feel like an eternity, one of the most absurd car accidents I’ve seen in a long time occurs completely out of the blue.

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Mario S

@RT70904467 04/09/2023

One depressing scene after another for what seemed like an endless two hours and change. Not a single character in the film had at least one redeeming quality.

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Natalia R

@Nataliariesgo 03/11/2023

France is a great movie. Léa Seydoux est magnifique.

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07/18/2022

one of the slowest worst movies Ive ever seen. if I could give it a zero, I would,,, 2.5 hours long? I quit watching 45 minutes in. Dont waste your time.

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Filminside P

@RT70732396 07/10/2022

This movie is a total failure. The satire fails completely, the whole is a cringe-festival and way too pathetic, the only thing that was alright was Léa Seydoux.

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01/22/2022

This film never went anywhere; maybe the point was that Seydoux's lovely visage was all there was to her character. And in the end, that's all I got out of the movie.

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Bruno Dumont

Director

Léa Seydoux

France de Meurs

Blanche Gardin

Lou

Benjamin Biolay

Fred de Meurs

Emanuele Arioli

Charles Castro

Juliane Köhler

Mme Arpel

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50%

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Synopsis

In FRANCE, a satirical drama set in contemporary Paris, Léa Seydoux stars as France de Meurs, a seemingly unflappable superstar TV journalist whose career, home life, and psychological stability are turned upside down after she carelessly drives into a young delivery man on a busy street. This unexpected eruption of reality triggers a series of self-reckonings as well as a strange romance that proves impossible to shake. As France attempts to slow down and retreat into a simpler, anonymous life, her fame continues to pursue her. Starting out as a tragicomic satire of the news media, writer-director Bruno Dumont's provocative new film spirals out into something darker as it examines the difficulty of maintaining one's sense of self in a corrosive culture.

Director: Bruno Dumont
Producer: Rachid Bouchareb, Jean Bréhat, Muriel Merlin, Dorothe Beinemeier
Screenwriter: Bruno Dumont
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Ascent Film, Scope Pictures, Tea Time Film, RAI Cinema, Red Balloon Film , 3B Productions, arte France Cinéma, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 10, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 22, 2022
Box Office (Gross USA): $48.6K
Runtime: 2h 13m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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