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Netflix has proven many times that it can deliver high-octane, fast-paced action films. Whether it's with popular franchises like Extraction, or foreign titles like Exterritorial, the streaming service offers a wide selection of adrenaline-fueled films.

One of them is the French franchise Lost Bullet, the perfect replacement for the Fast & Furious franchise. The highly underrated high-octane car action franchise premiered in 2020 on Netflix, and returned in 2022 with the sequel Lost Bullet 2, and recently released the film series' conclusion, Last Bullet. Following the recent release of the last entry, the Lost Bullet franchise has taken over the non-English global charts, not just with the latest entry, but all the installments, with over 21 million views, per Tudum.

Last Bullet crashed on Netflix on May 7, and subscribers rushed to watch the film. It debuted in third place globally on the non-English charts with 16.4 million views and 30.8 million hours viewed for the...

Directed by Guillaume Pierret, who also helmed the previous two installments, this third film picks up the story where the others left off: a drug-related intrigue where you can follow both sides of the story, that of the police and that of the traffickers. This third entry, like its predecessors, makes realism its hallmark, prioritizing authenticity over unnatural effects and plot twists.

While the series has garnered significant critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase, it has often been described as an “underrated action trilogy” or a “hidden gem” that many viewers “haven’t seen (but really should).”

Lino’s Journey Through the First Two Films

At the heart of the entire plot is Lino, portrayed with raw intensity by Alban Lenoir. A brilliant car mechanic with a troubled past, Lino is repeatedly thrust into a dangerous world of corrupt law enforcement and high-speed, life-or-death confrontations. The first film, from 2020, introduced...

The third and final movie in one of the most underrated action trilogies on Netflix is gearing up to hit the streamer tomorrow, and the first reactions have now pulled into view. Last Bullet, which brings the explosive story of the “indestructible” car genius Lino to an end, is due to hit Netflix on May 7, and the first pair of early reactions to the action outing have heaped praise on the “incredible” finale.

Directed by Guillaume Pierret, who has helmed all three installments in the Bullet series, Last Bullet finds Alban Lenoir back in the driving seat as Lino, with the rest of the cast comprised of Nicolas Duvauchelle, Stéfi Celma, Gérard Lanvin, Pascale Arbillot, Quentin D'Hainaut, Julie Tedesco, and Anne Serra. Declared as the finale of this “turbo-charged trilogy,” Last Bullet finds Lino freshly released from prison and quickly gearing up to enact his vengeance against the crooked cop who destroyed his life.

Love him or hate him, mystery fans can't get enough of Harlan Coben. The American novelist has attracted devoted readers from around the world who buy his books for their shocking twists, indulgent characters, and thrillingly baffling conclusions. Some have favorably compared him to Stephen King; others, such as The Independent's Nick Hilton, feel that he makes "The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown look like "a paragon of literary restraint" by comparison.

Naturally, Coben has caught the attention of Hollywood producers. There had been some successful attempts at adapting his work in the 2000s and 2010s, as well as a few unsuccessful attempts. Things really took off in 2018, when Coben signed a deal with Netflix to produce several serialized adaptations of his work. The results have been very mixed, so we took a look at them all to determine which Harlan Coben Netflix series is the best.

Read...

Netflix continues to deliver all the explosions, gunplay, and car chases that any action fan could possibly want as the streamer unleashes the first trailer for the finale of the adrenaline-fueled franchise you’ve never heard of. Titled Last Bullet, the footage reintroduces us to the “indestructible” car genius Lino as he returns to conclude his vendetta against the crooked cop who destroyed his life. You can check out the action-packed trailer for Last Bullet below.

Declared as the finale of this “turbo-charged trilogy,” Last Bullet finds Lino freshly released from prison and quickly gearing up to enact his vengeance and see justice prevail. Old enemies must unite as all manner of white-knuckle car chases, brutal fist fights, and everything else in between, ensue in the thrilling footage that should quickly see the action franchise jump in your estimations from “unknown” to “must-see.”

Directed by Guillaume Pierret, who has helmed...

"The indestructible Lino..." Netflix has launched the main official trailer for Lost Bullet 3, also known as Last Bullet in English, although for release in France they're still calling it Balle Perdue 3 (or Lost Bullet 3). The finale in this high-octane, action-packed, car action movie trilogy from France with spectacular real stunts. The indestructible car genius Lino returns to conclude his vendetta against Areski and the corrupt commander who ruined their lives in this turbo-charged trilogy finale. The original Lost Bullet debuted on Netflix back in 2020, followed up by the sequel Lost Bullet 2 back in 2022. Alban Lenoir stars as the car genius Lino who returns to conclude his vendetta against Areski and the corrupt commander who ruined their lives in this turbo-charged trilogy finale. Also starring Stéfi Celma, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Gérard Lanvin, Pascale Arbillot, Julie Tedesco, and Anne Serra. In addition to all the car scenes, there is...

If you're a fan of thrillers, Netflix has no shortage of options, especially with its selection of Harlan Coben adaptations. Coben, known for his suspenseful novels, has become a popular name in the streaming world with many of his books turned into Netflix shows. However, not all of them live up to the hype.

As of right now, there are 10 television series adaptations and one original series of his currently streaming on Netflix. They are Safe, Stay Close, The Innocent, The Stranger, Gone for Good, The Woods, Hold Tight, Missing You, Caught, Fool Me Once and Just One Look. While each of these series has its share of twists and surprises, not all of them succeed in maintaining your interest or keeping the momentum strong throughout. Some may leave you hooked for a few episodes, only to disappoint with predictable plotlines, pacing issues, underdeveloped characters, or unsatisfying conclusions.

We would...

As one of the most prolific and successful mystery writers of the past 30 years, it's unsurprising that many of Harlan Coben's novels have been adapted for the small screen by a streamer like Netflix. Featuring more twists and turns than a country lane, Coben's stories are perfectly suited to the miniseries format. However, some have been more successful than others. Of the eight Coben books so far adapted, most have enjoyed a generally positive critical reception.

Productions of Safe, The Stranger, The Woods, The Innocent, Stay Close, and Fool Me Once have all been rated as "Fresh" on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes – further highlighting just how suited Coben's writing is to television. However, the burgeoning Coben-verse hasn't been a total success. Gone for Good and Hold Tight have both failed to impress critics, while other shows have been more polarizing than their overall critical scores suggest.

Harlan Coben's...

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Missing You is a mystery thriller drama series created by Victoria Asare-Archer. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by author Harlan Coben, the Netflix series follows detective Kate Donovan, who finds her missing fiancé on a dating app ten years after he supposedly disappeared. Missing You stars Rosalind Eleazar, Jessica Plummer, Richard Armitage, Lenny Henry, Steve Pemberton, Marc Warren, Samantha Spiro, Lisa Faulkner, Mary Malone, and Ashley Walters. So, if you loved the dark secrets, thrilling story, and compelling characters in Missing You, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Fool Me Once (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Fool Me Once is a British mystery thriller drama series created by Danny Brocklehurst, Charlotte Coben, Yemi Oyefuwa, Nina Metivier, and Tom Farrelly. Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Harlan Coben, the Netflix series follows Maya Stern,...

The surface glamor and beauty of Nice is peeled away from the off in Akaki Popkhadze’s debut feature “In The Name Of Blood” (“Brûle le sang”) which premieres in San Sebastian’s New Director section.

“Nice is a city where the rich and the poor live side by side.” the director tells Variety. “The poor neighborhoods are just a few minutes by tramway from the center. No need to drive hours to see the dirt. I think the particularity of Nice is that poor people live surrounded by palm trees, beautiful landscapes, super cars, casinos, a seaside full of tourists and it can make people dizzy and give them the wrong life-goals. For me all this is just appearance.”

The opening shot tracks from a postcard scene of Nice’s curved bay out to show a chain link fence, the high rise apartments and the highway of an oft ignored side to Nice.

The upcoming San Sebastian Film Festival just revealed some really cool movies playing in their New Directors section. That part of the festival is all about finding new and upcoming filmmakers from around the world. This year they picked eleven films from places like Argentina, China, France, Georgia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, and the USA.

The New Directors section will kick off with a documentary called “The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortes.” It follows a Spanish filmmaker named Antón Álvarez as he records an album with a famous flamenco artist. That should be really interesting to music and culture fans.

One of the hyped films is called “Turn Me On.” It’s a funny sci-fi love story directed by Michael Tyburski. The movie stars Bel Powley and Nick Robinson in a future where feelings are banned and people take pills to not feel anything. This is Tyburski’s second feature film after his first,...

Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival has unveiled a 10-title lineup of its New Directors competition, the festival’s biggest sidebar, which takes in “Turn Me On,” the new feature from Michael Tyburski, helmer of Sundance hit “The Sound of Silence.”

Starring Bel Powley and Nick Robinson and sold by Film Constellation, “Turn Me On,” a sci-fi romantic comedy, joins buzz titles in the section, such as “In the Name of Blood,” a Nice-set Georgian mafia movie from Georgia’s Akaki Popkhadze, prized at Clermont Ferrand for his latest short, and “Gulizar,” the first feature from Turkish moviemaker Belkis Bayrak, about a young victim of sexual assault in the run-up to her wedding.

Also selected for New Directors are “Winter in Sokcho,” from French-Japanese director Koya Kamura, starring Roschdy Zem and Bella Kim, and “Regretfully at Dawn,” a drama set in a province near Bangkok directed by Thai helmer Sivaroj Kongsakul.

Paris-based Urban Sales has acquired Jean-Claude Monod’s queer period drama Girl For A Day and Jul and Jean-Paul Guigue’s hybrid animation Silex And The City and is launching sales for both films at Unifrance’s Paris Rendez-Vous next week,

Set in the 18th century, Girl For A Day is Monod’s debut feature and is based on the true story of a person called Anne Grandjean who was urged to dress as a man and change her name due to her attraction to women, and was then brought to trial. Marie Toscan stars alongside Call My Agent’s Thibault de Montalembert,...

Netflix's 2023 French crime drama, Blood Coast, has a strong cast of actors led by Rogue City's Moussa Maaskri and Braquo's Nicolas Duvauchelle. 

Directed by César Awards-winning filmmaker Olivier Marchal, Blood Coast revolves around Captain Lyès Benamar's (Tewfik Jallab) quest to put an end to a drug ring led by Franck Murillo (Nicolas Duvauchelle). The series premiered on Netflix on December 6. 

Every Main Actor & Character in Blood Coast Read full article on The Direct.

Netflix’s 2023 action-thriller series, Blood Coast, isn’t just your average cop show about chasing criminals and putting them behind bars. Rather, it chronicles a group of meticulous and unorthodox cops who know that playing by the book won’t get you anywhere, and in order to catch a criminal, you’ve got to think like one. Lyès Benamar (Tewfik Jallab) and his team didn’t really have a clean image in the department, mainly due to his unconventional methods of busting criminals and drug dealers.

Lyès was the sort of cop who hardly flinched before torturing criminals to get the information he needed. Thanks to his methods, Lyès and his team had always attracted criticism from his superior, Commissaire Fabiani (Florence Thomassin), who had lost count of exactly how many times she’d told Lyès to play by the book and not spark unnecessary fuss. Thus, Fabiani had Lyès...

First slate to include Rachel’s Game, Oldies But Goodies, Survive.

Powerhouse Paris-based media group Federation Studios has joined forces with veteran sales executive Sabine Chemaly to launch international film sales company Ginger & Fed.

The new venture, a partnership between Federation and Chemaly’s Ginger Films, will take on acquisitions and international sales for both in-house and third party films.

The feature-focused foray is an extension of Federation’s existing distribution of fiction, documentary and children’s programming and presence in production via global companies like Bonne Pioche, Cheyenne and Monkey Pack (Robin & Co) in France, Vertigo in the UK,...

The revenge story stars Nicolas Duvauchelle, Finnegan Oldfield, Denis Lavant and Florent Hill-Chouaki.

Georgian-French director Akaki Popkhadze’s mafia thriller In the Name of Blood has joined the Urban Sales family with the Paris-based sales company headed by Frédéric Corvez acquiring global rights to the France-set feature ahead of the Cannes market.

In the Name of Blood (Brûle le Sang) stars Nicolas Duvauchelle, Finnegan Oldfield, Denis Lavant and Florent Hill-Chouaki. Set in a working-class neighbourhood in Nice, the film follows an aspiring orthodox priest whose father, a pillar in the local Georgian community, is murdered and his older brother with...

After exploring the tumults of French politics in “Baron Noir,” Oscar-nominated French-Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Doueiri immerses audiences into the rough world of French Special Forces in Iraq in “Dark Hearts.”

Ordered by Amazon Prime Video in France, “Dark Hearts” is set on the eve of the battle for Mosul in October 2016 and follows the lives of men and women who are part of a commando group deployed in Iraq to fight Isis. They are tasked with exfiltrating the daughter and grandson of an important Isis leader who will only cooperate with them on this condition.

Doueiri, who started his career in Hollywood working as a first assistant camera on movies like Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs,” was always curious about war movies but thought of them as a genre pre-empted by American filmmakers. So when French producer Gilles de Verdière at Mandarin Télévision approached him with the pitch for “Dark Hearts,...

Have you seen Netflix’s new high-octane, action-packed thriller Lost Bullet 2? If not —Go see it! It’s one of the best action movies Netflix has ever released. Large format goodness — Shot on Red Monstro 8K by cinematographer Morgan S. Dalibert. If John Wick and F&f made a collab…

BTS of Lost Bullet 2: Source – Netflix Lost Bullet (Balle Perdue) series

Lost Bullet (French: Balle perdue) is a 2020 French action thriller film directed by Guillaume Pierret, written by Guillaume Pierret, Alban Lenoir, and Kamel Guemra, and starring Alban Lenoir, Nicolas Duvauchelle, and Ramzy Bedia. Lenoir the main star, is a former stuntman himself. The sequel, Lost Bullet 2, was released by Netflix on November 10, 2022, and a third film has been announced. Every chapter is like a feature regarding length (about 90 minutes of runtime). Lost Bullet is proof that French filmmakers know how to make extraordinary action movies. In fact,...

Stars: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Marilyn Lima, Romane Bohringer, Rossy De Palma, Tchéky Karyo | Written by Stéphane Landowski, Mathias Malzieu | Directed by Mathias Malzieu

If you follow me on Twitter or know me at all, you probably know that I’m not really a fan of romantic movies. That’s not to say I hate them, I’m just very choosy about which ones I watch because I know I’m not going to like the majority of them… However by being part of the Fantasia Festival meant that I would give A Mermaid In Paris a chance. I know the festival is full of original and entertaining films, and this one looked no different.

In it, we see Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) save an injured mermaid, Lula (Marilyn Lima) and take her to his home to his bath tub to heal. Gaspard has had his heartbroken on too many occasions and believes he will never love again,...

The beguiling and the deadly walk hand and hand in the myth of the mermaid - and Mathias Malzieu retains both elements as he offers a fishy twist on romantic comedy in A Mermaid In Paris. His quirky offering, which boasts handsome production and costume design, bears the strong influence of French fantasy film director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with every detail finessed - from rubber ducks to T-shirts.

Lula (Marilyn Lima) is the mermaid in question, heard before she is seen - singing her song in the Seine and luring unsuspected men to their deaths in the water. Moored near her killzone is the Flowerburger barge - a restaurant that has a hidden club below decks, accessed only if you know the right phrase. It's there that the rather lonely and unlucky in love Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) - the son of the owner - croons for the punters of an evening.

Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) has lived his entire life in pursuit of fulfilling a promise from his grandmother that he’s never quite understood. She was the matriarch of a family that reached well past blood to encompass a group of artistic “Surprisers” who gathered at her famed Flowerburger—an underground speakeasy of sorts doubling as a safe haven for anti-fascist disruptors during the war where song and dance led to poems and love. With a wealth of important Parisian history many will never know, she made certain to document everything that occurred via an impossible pop-up book bestowed upon her grandson before her death. He took it willingly and excitedly because he wanted to grow up and continue her legacy. Life just hasn’t yet allowed Gaspard to do so.

And he’s lovesick as a result. He’ll say it’s a result of multiple singer girlfriends that haven...

The Fantasia International Film Festival will launch its 24th edition next month as an exciting virtual event composed of scheduled live screenings, program library, panels, and workshops, taking place from August 20th to September 2nd, 2020. The festival will be accessible across Canada, geo-locked to the country, and will maintain unique film admittance quantities in line with the cinema experience.

Fantasia is thrilled to reveal its second wave of programming and will return in early August with its third and final line-up announcement.

The Dark And The Wicked…Very Dark And Very Wicked!

Writer/director Bryan Bertino (The Strangers) takes rural terror up another notch in this incredibly scary shocker, previously slated to launch at the Tribeca Film Festival. On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense...

In the social distancing era of Covid-19, Fantasia International Film Festival is coming online with a virtual edition taking place August 20th–September 2nd. The first wave of programming has already been revealed, including Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning, Brea Grant's 12 Hour Shift, Lars Damoiseaux's Yummy, and Tezuka's Barbara from Makoto Tezuka.

Today, we have details on the second wave of programming, including Bryan Bertino's The Dark and the Wicked and much more! It's important to note that screenings will only be viewable to those who live in Canada, and you can learn more by visiting The Hollywood Reporter and Fantasia's website.

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more coverage of Fantasia 2020, and check out the full second wave announcement below:

Thursday, July 9, 2020 // Montreal, Quebec -- The Fantasia International Film Festival will launch its 24th edition next month as an exciting virtual event composed of scheduled live screenings,...

A tale of missed connections both earthly and ethereal, Pascal Bonitzer’s haunting “Spellbound” starts underground before it creeps upward to the atmosphere and beyond. Clad in a chic trench coat and styled with a noticeably old-fashioned, side-swept up-do, freelance writer Coline (Sara Giraudeau) is about to hear that ever-unpleasant delay announcement in the Paris metro. Once her train gets stalled, Coline exits, though almost shockingly unfazed, strolling through the streets until a chance encounter taps her on the shoulder. The man that’s appeared out of thin air is none other than Simon (Nicolas Duvauchelle), who evidently stepped out of the same shuttered subway line.

Through this brief foggy encounter and a few minutes of polite yet uncomfortable small talk, we grasp that there is some thorny history there, which Bonitzer’s intriguing yarn unpacks with otherworldly grace, but not always earthbound wisdom or authority. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing,...

Christophe Honoré’s On A Magical Night (Chambre 212), starring Chiara Mastroianni, Benjamin Biolay and Vincent Lacoste, traces memories with flesh and blood in light in the footsteps of Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Dream logic pervades many of the films selected in this year’s New York UniFrance and Film at Lincoln Center Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, including Pascal Bonitzer’s Spellbound (Les Envoûtés), based on Henry James’s ghost story The Way It Came, starring Sara Giraudeau, Anabel Lopez and Nicolas Duvauchelle; Quentin Dupieux’s Deerskin (Le Daim) with Adèle Haenel (César nominated for Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire) opposite Jean Dujardin (César nominated Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy); Safy Nebbou’s Who You Think I Am (Celle Que Vous Croyez), adapted from Camille Laurens’s book, with Juliette Binoche, François Civil (Antonin Baudry’s César nominated The Wolf's Call) and Nicole Garcia,...

Dionysos lead singer Mathias Malzieu makes live-action feature directorial debut.

Sony Pictures International Productions (Spip), riding high after the weekend box office success of local-language comedy Padre No Hay Más Que Uno in Spain, has come on board to co-produce the French adventure romance A Mermaid In Paris (Une Sirène À Paris) with Kinology, Overdrive Productions and Entre Chien et Loup.

Mathias Malzieu, lead singer of French pop band Dionysos, will make his live-action feature directorial debut on the project, based on his novel from publishing house Albin Michel that sold more than 100,000 copies in France.

Malzieu and Stéphane Landowski co-wrote the screenplay,...

Nicolas Duvauchelle and Marilyn Lima topline this feature being staged by Overdrive and Entre Chien et Loup, the international sales of which are managed by Kinology. The first clapperboard will slam in Macedonia on 29 August for A Mermaid in Paris, the debut feature-length fiction film by Mathias Malzieu, who was nominated for the César Award for Best Animated Film in 2015 for Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart. The filmmaker, who is also a writer and the lead singer of the group Dionysos, will boast a cast that includes Nicolas Duvauchelle (nominated for the César and Lumières Awards for Best Actor in 2017 for A Decent Man, nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2012 for Poliss, due to grace screens this summer in Persona non grata...

Les amis des amis

French writer and director Pascal Bonitzer commences on his eighth feature, Les envoûtés (formerly titled Les amis des amis), which features a cast of notables including Nicolas Duvauchelle, Nicolas Maury, Josiane Balasko, Anable Lopez, Iliana Lolic and the lead Sara Giraudeau (2018 Cesar winner for Best Supporting Actress in Bloody Milk). It is the fourth film in a row from Bonitzer to be produced by Said Ben Said and Michel Merkt of Sbs Productions (their last venture together being 2016’s Right Here Right Now). Belgium’s Diana Elbaum of Beluga Tree is also co-producing. Dp Julien Hirsch lensed the feature.…...

Company to unveil new films by Rebecca Zlotowski, Guillaume Nicloux and Roschdy Zem during Paris Rendez-vous in January.

Wild Bunch will kick-off sales on a quartet of new French films during the Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris in January including a coming-of-age tale by Rebecca Zlotowski, starring glamour girl and lingerie designer Zahia Dehar, and Guillaume Nicloux’s new collaboration with cult writer Michel Houellebecq and Gérard Depardieu.

Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl co-stars debutant actress Mina Farid as the naïve 16-year-old Naïma, whose eyes are opened to the world of love, sex and human relationships over a summer...

There’s something quintessentially French about a couple, having only met very recently, who argue their way from the “drop off car” scene to the “nightcap” to the bedroom. At least, that’s what Let the Sunshine In unwittingly relays, because while it is delivered as a sequence of events that is perhaps humorously outside the realm of what we should be hoping for to kick off a relationship, it isn’t offered up as atypical in any sense that might detract from its realism. French or not, by this point in the film we are solidified in an understanding that the requisite perspective needed to facilitate this sort of exchange is exactly who Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) is at this point in her life. An aging artist in a relationship with a married man (Xavier Beauvois), Isabelle is looking for more out of life… and love. When a dalliance with...

Claire Denis’ loopy, tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy “Let the Sunshine In” stars Juliette Binoche as Isabelle, a contemporary French artist who becomes nearly obsessed with her search for love. Or lust. Whichever is within reach.

Isabelle jumps from one lover’s arms to another’s like there’s hot lava on the floor, and they are her safehaven of dry land. And dry so many of them are. The first is Vincent (actor-filmmaker Xavier Beauvois), a married banker with a jealous streak who negs Isabelle like he took a weekend course from The Pickup Artist. In one scene at a bar, he fills her up with backhanded compliments about how great it is that she feels comfortable doing such frivolous things like making art, while he tasks the bartender with completing arbitrary requests, like setting down a bottle of Perrier in exactly the right way.

Luckily, Isabelle ditches this guy, but she’s not single for long. Another lover — also married — quickly gets under her skin when what begins as an artists’ work meeting turns very personal very quickly. The guy (Nicolas Duvauchelle, Denis’ “White Material”) is an actor and is consistently referred to as simply “L’acteur.” Over the course of a single beer, he delivers an unprompted and seemingly endless monologue about all of his violent fugue states and “bad-boy” tendencies as Isabelle just waits for her turn to talk.

Also Read: Majority of Cannes Critics' Week Competition Films Were Directed by Women

This multi-scene courtship is painful to watch, because both characters neurotically dance around their attraction to one another in a manner that manifests itself into hostility and anger, and so both won’t shut up, even though they’re not really saying anything at all, until they finally ravage one another, and Isabelle says what I was feeling myself: “God, I thought the talking would never end.”

But L’acteur is no good, either. Isabelle longs for something real but continually seeks out the fiction, the relationship that’s bound to blow up in her face. She’s got a perfectly good choice of a man in Francois (Laurent Grévill, Denis’ “Bastards”), with whom she has a child, but this is a woman whose enemy is perfection; she’s addicted to the beginning of a relationship but instinctively runs at the first sign of trouble, even if the trouble is something she’s manufactured herself. Isabelle is the friend you must convince that every happy couple endures hard times.

Also Read: Netflix Bails on Cannes Over Theatrical Release Mandate

The cracks begin to show in Isabelle’s pleasant façade when she accepts an invitation for a trip into the country. In one pivotal moment, she loses it on an hours-long property tour, screaming and howling for the inane conversation to stop, but nobody seems to care, as they all have a great time later at the bar. She’s mercurial, and this film is as much a statement about the temperament of artists as it is about love. An artist can fly off the handle in rage, and yet her friends think nothing of this emotion, which is sure to be as fleeting as her romances.

The only cardinal sin an artist can commit, according to Isabelle’s artist friends, is being with someone who is not also an artist, who would never understand this impetuous lifestyle. When Isabelle sleeps with a man who sweeps her off her feet at a bar and then has him move in with her, the artist community is in a panic: Has this guy even painted anything before?

See Photos: 17 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed by Women, From 'Mamma Mia!' to 'Wonder Woman'

And though Gérard Dépardieu only shows up for the finale of the film, as a psychic truth-teller, he’s the perfect tag to this story, this personal quest of Isabelle’s that shows absolutely no signs of ending anytime soon. Of course she goes to the psychic. Of course she wants him to give her an easy answer (one she will inevitably ignore or contradict after a while anyway), a way to predict the future and cut out the hard parts of learning and growing.

Binoche being in her 50s also brings more meaning to this film, which showcases the fact that the manic search for connection one feels in their 20s doesn’t just disappear with age. There’s no magical time when a person suddenly feels satisfied and does not wonder if possibly there is more to life and love than the day-in, day-out doldrums.

When films are made about straight men in this predicament, they’re often considered explorations of a “midlife crisis,” but Denis’ film poses the questions: What if crises aren’t limited to a certain age, and what if love itself is the crisis?



Read original story ‘Let the Sunshine In’ Film Review: Juliette Binoche Looks for Love With All the Wrong Men At TheWrap...

Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio is wasting no time getting his next project into theaters — or at least distributor Bleecker Street isn’t. Just over a month after his last film, A Fantastic Woman, took the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, his latest, Disobedience with Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz rolls into theaters, only days after its Tribeca Film Festival bow. The film joins a pretty packed lineup of new Specialties that will go head to head with Disney’s sure-fire Avengers installment. Sundance Selects is rolling out French filmmaker Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In with Juliette Binoche, one of a few foreign-language offerings this weekend including Grasshopper Films’ drama Ava by Sadaf Foroughi. Shout! Studios is opening The House of Tomorrow by Peter Livolsi with Asa Butterfield, Nick Offerman and Ellen Burstyn in several markets, while Cleopatra Films is opening Daniel Jerome Gill’s music-romance, Modern Life is Rubbish.

MaryAnn’s quick take… Juliette Binoche’s search for midlife love is drenched in ennui and punctuated by weary philosophizing. There’s not a lot of satisfaction in it, nor much by way of resolution. Very French. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for movies about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film

(learn more about this)

Is this my life? I want to find love.” So laments Juliette Binoche (Ghost in the Shell) as Isabelle, a 50something artist in Paris, echoing many a woman of every age. Which is in fact something of a comfort: if a woman of such luminousness, grace, and intelligence can’t find a man, then maybe it’s not us, but them. (Just kidding: We all already know it’s them.

"If I were you, I wouldn't torture myself." Sundance Selects + IFC Films have released an official Us trailer for the latest film from French filmmaker extraordinaire Claire Denis, titled Let the Sunshine In, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Also titled Un beau soleil intérieur in French, the film stars Juliette Binoche as a middle aged, confident French woman dealing with a variety of unsuitable suitors in this romantic comedy. She meets a number of different men, each who have their own perks and quirks, and downsides as she figures out what romance means to her at this point in her life. The cast includes Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Sandrine Dumas, Nicolas Duvauchelle, and Alex Descas. This is a fun film with some fine French humor, but definitely not one of Claire Denis' best. Enjoy. Here's the official Us trailer (+ French poster) for Claire Denis' Let the Sunshine In,...

Whether you translate its title as “Let the Sunshine In” or “Bright Sunshine In,” the new Claire Denis movie remains an exciting prospect for the simple fact that, well, it’s the new Claire Denis movie. Juliette Binoche stars in the romantic comedy, marking the first collaboration between the two icons of French cinema; their work first saw the light of day at Cannes, where it opened the Directors’ Fortnight program. Watch the trailer below.

Here’s the synopsis: “Isabelle (Binoche) is a divorced Parisian painter searching for another shot at love, but refusing to settle for the parade of all-too-flawed men who drift in and out of her life. There’s a caddish banker (Xavier Beauvois) who, like many of her lovers, happens to be married; a handsome actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle) who’s working through his own hang-ups; and a sensitive fellow artist (Alex Descas) who’s skittish about commitment.

There has, of course, been significant investment in High Life, the Claire Denis-Robert Pattinson sci-fi movie that’s expected to finally make landfall this year. (We named it our most-anticipated of 2018, for God’s sake.) Thrilled though I am to see one of our very greatest filmmakers get her biggest-ever spotlight, I hope it doesn’t have some effect of obscuring another forthcoming picture — and one whose quality I can actually attest for, if that helps. (Please.)

Following its run at Cannes and Nyff, Denis’ Juliette Binoche-starrer, Let the Sunshine In, will come to theaters and VOD on April 27. Thus brings a domestic trailer that, like most, I’d recommend skipping — here in particular because this is a picture whose pleasures and oddities unfold delicately, which would account for my allergic reaction to this preview’s emotional strong-arming that ignores proper representation to pull in a bigger crowd.

The film team from The Red Collar line up for the premiere screening at the Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris Photo: Richard Mowe

If it’s Paris in January it must be the Rendez-vous with French Cinema, now in its 20th edition which unites buyers, sales agents, and journalists in a jamboree to set out some of le cinéma français’s wares for the year ahead, including 80 new titles slated for premiere screenings among the 169 features on show.

The event, organised by the film promotion body Unifrance and focussed around the Intercontinental Grand Hotel and the Gaumont Opera cinema, opened last night with a gala screening of veteran Jean Becker’s latest opus The Red Collar (Le Collier Rouge).

On stage at the opening of the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema: director Jean Becker, writer Jean-Loup Dabadie and actor Nicolas Duvauchelle Photo: Richard Mowe

As an example of well-made,...

Some 40 French companies will participate in Paris showcase.

Source: Alain Guizard

The Red Collar

Jean Becker’s WW1 drama The Red Collar will open Unifrance’s 20th Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris, running Jan 18-22, 2018, its international sales agent FranceTV Distribution (Ftd) has announced.

The Wwi drama, adapted from the 2014 novel by Jean-Christophe Rufin, resolves around the interrogation of a decorated war hero who has fallen from grace after staging a strange, anti-war protest using his medal.

Nicolas Duvauchelle plays the disgraced soldier opposite François Cluzet as a corrupt judge who is charged with the task of interrogating the young man. French-Belgian actress Sophie Verbeek plays the fallen hero’s lover. Above and below, Screen can reveal the two first look images from the film.

The production is one of the first titles to be completed on the slate of FranceTV Distribution’s new feature film division following its launch at the 2017 Paris Rendez-vous.

Other upcoming titles...

Some 40 French companies will participate in Paris showcase.

Source: Alain Guizard

The Red Collar

Jean Becker’s WW1 drama The Red Collar will open Unifrance’s 20th Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris, running Jan 18-22, 2018, its international sales agent FranceTV Distribution (Ftd) has announced.

The Wwi drama, adapted from the 2014 novel by Jean-Christophe Rufin, resolves around the interrogation of a decorated war hero who has fallen from grace after staging a strange, anti-war protest using his medal.

Nicolas Duvauchelle plays the disgraced soldier opposite François Cluzet as a corrupt judge who is charged with the task of interrogating the young man. French-Belgian actress Sophie Verbeek plays the fallen hero’s lover. Above and below, Screen can reveal the two first look images from the film.

The production is one of the first titles to be completed on the slate of FranceTV Distribution’s new feature film division following its launch at the 2017 Paris Rendez-vous.

Some 40 French companies will participate in Paris showcase.

Source: Alain Guizard

The Red Collar

Jean Becker’s WW1 drama The Red Collar will open Unifrance’s 20th Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris, running Jan 18-22, 2018, its international sales agent FranceTV Distribution (Ftd) has announced.

The Wwi drama, adapted from the 2014 novel by Jean-Christophe Rufin, resolves around the interrogation of a decorated war hero who has fallen from grace after staging a strange, anti-war protest using his medal.

Nicolas Duvauchelle plays the disgraced soldier opposite François Cluzet as a corrupt judge who is charged with the task of interrogating the young man. French-Belgian actress Sophie Verbeek plays the fallen hero’s lover.

The production is one of the first titles to be completed on the slate of FranceTV Distribution’s new feature film division following its launch at the 2017 Paris Rendez-vous.

Other upcoming titles on its slate include Xabi Molia’s Comme Des Rois,...

Some 40 French companies will participate in Paris showcase.

Source: Alain Guizard

The Red Collar

Jean Becker’s WW1 drama The Red Collar will open Unifrance’s 20th Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris, running Jan 18-22, 2018, its international sales agent FranceTV Distribution (Ftd) has announced.

The Wwi drama, adapted from the 2014 novel by Jean-Christophe Rufin, resolves around the interrogation of a decorated war hero who has fallen from grace after staging a strange, anti-war protest using his medal.

Nicolas Duvauchelle plays the disgraced soldier opposite François Cluzet as a corrupt judge who is charged with the task of interrogating the young man. French-Belgian actress Sophie Verbeek plays the fallen hero’s lover.

The production is one of the first titles to be completed on the slate of FranceTV Distribution’s new feature film division following its launch at the 2017 Paris Rendez-vous.

Other upcoming titles on its slate include Xabi Molia’s Comme Des Rois, starring Kad Merad as a con...

It’s beginning to look a lot like fall festival season. On the heels of announcements from Tiff and Venice, the 55th edition of the New York Film Festival has unveiled its Main Slate, including a number of returning faces, emerging talents, and some of the most anticipated films from the festival circuit this year.

This year’s Main Slate showcases a number of films honored at Cannes including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner “The Square,” Robin Campillo’s “Bpm,” and Agnès Varda & Jr’s “Faces Places.” Other Cannes standouts, including “The Rider” and “The Florida Project,” will also screen at Nyff.

Read MoreTIFF Reveals First Slate of 2017 Titles, Including ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’

Elsewhere, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner “The Other Side of Hope” and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner “Spoor” come to Nyff after Berlin bows.

Claire Denis may not be the first Francophone auteur expected to turn in a romantic comedy, and her latest will disappoint those expecting Nancy Meyers a Paris. However, Let the Sunshine In (Un Beau Soleil Interieur) is a sophisticated, idiosyncratic, thoroughly modern interpretation of a French romantic farce, perceptive if not laugh-out-loud funny, featuring a top-form Juliette Binoche as a middle-aged divorcée wading through a series of exasperatingly self-centered men in search not just for love, but a partner with whom she can be herself.

Inspired by French critic and philosopher Roland Barthes’ A Lovers Discourse: Fragments, a work of agonizing self-reflexion on the nature of romantic relationships, Denis and novelist co-writer Christine Angot concoct a deadpan, occasionally very funny affair with touches of the self-examination of Woody Allen. Binoche plays Isabelle, an artist who lives in hope that she’ll find love again but continues, in her words, “running into a wall.

Sundance Selects, the division of IFC Films known for distributing critically acclaimed foreign-language films, has acquired the North American rights to Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In,” Variety reports. The dramedy screened in the Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight sidebar and follows a single mom and divorced artist named Isabelle (Juliete Binoche) who is looking for love.

Cannes: Bong Joon Ho’s ‘Okja’ Booed During Technical Glitch and Netflix Logo at First Press Screening

Written by Denis and Christine Angot, “Let the Sunshine In” co-stars Gérard Depardieu, Xavier Beauvois, Josiane Balasko, Philippe Katerine and Nicolas Duvauchelle.

“We absolutely loved Claire’s touching and funny take on finding love and are thrilled to be back in business with her, Juliette Binoche and our friends at Film Distribution,” IFC Films/Sundance Selects co-presidents Jonathan Sehring and Lisa Schwartz said in a statement.

Cannes: Neon and Vice Buy U.S. Rights...

Exclusive: WW1 drama will be released in China in 2018.

France TV Distribution (Ftd) has sealed its first sales on French director Jean Becker’s First World War drama Le Collier Rouge, starring François Cluzet (pictured, left) and Nicolas Duvauchelle (pictured, right).

The film has been acquired by Hugo East for release in China in 2018 and has also started drawing in European buyers with a pre-sale to Spain’s Contracorriente.

Adapted from the 2014 novel by Jean-Christophe Rufin, the tale revolves around the interrogation of a young French man, once hailed as a war hero, who has fallen from grace after committing a strange crime. Cluzet plays the judge and Duvauchelle the disgraced soldier. Belgian actress Sophie Verbeek recently signed to play the young man’s devoted lover.

“It’s a profoundly humanist tale exploring the impact and the myths around war with a resonance for today,” says Ftd director of international sales Julia Schulte. The €6.7m production...

Before Hollywood takes the spotlight this weekend, the film world turns its eyes to France for the annual Cesar Awards. Presented by the French Academy, this year’s nominees represent a distinct blend of international favorites, festival standouts and homegrown hits.

Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” led this year’s nominees, scoring 11 nominations for Verhoeven as Best Director, lead actress Isabelle Huppert, Best Adapted Screenplay and a trio of other acting awards.

Read More: ‘Elle,’ Isabelle Huppert, Xavier Dolan Nominated in France’s Cesar Awards

The evening’s winners at Paris’ Salle Pleyel featured a variety of upsets and sure things. Huppert, going into a busy weekend in the States, won her category. In a pair of surprises, Xavier Dolan and Gaspard Ulliel both won their respective categories for Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World.” Houda Benyamina’s debut feature “Divines” also won big, taking home prizes for Best First Film,...

Following a premiere at Toronto International Film Festival last fall, a new international trailer has arrived for writer-director Arnaud des Pallières‘ latest drama Orpheline (which translates to Orphan). While the trailer is in French (making certain key plot elements a bit cloudy), one need not read subtitles when there are flashing neon lights, money smuggling, race-track gambling, and police raids.

The revolves around Sandra through multiple stages of her life (the eldest of which is played by Adèle Exarchopoulos) as she tumbles through a life of trouble and potential romance (with Gemma Arterton). See the trailer below, for the film that also stars Adèle Haenel (the lead of the Dardennes’ latest film The Unknown Girl), Sergi López and Nicolas Duvauchelle.

Tiff synopsis:

Arnaud des Pallières’ unique talent, evident in his wildly different first two feature films, shifts yet again for this ambitious, fractured narrative about a woman at various stages of her life.

France’s film community congratulated Isabelle Huppert on her Oscar nomination, adding yet another to her growing list of accolades for her performance in “Elle.” The French Academy announced its nominees for what Americans call the “French Oscars” on Wednesday morning. “Elle” received 11 nominations in total, including best film and best director for Paul Verhoeven.

Following in a close send was Francois Ozon’s “Frantz,” which garnered 10 nominations, and Bruno Dumont’s “Slack Bay,” which received nine. Xavier Dolan received a best director nomination for “It’s Only the End of the World.” Actors Vincent Cassel, Gaspard Ulliel, and Nathalie Baye were all nominated for their work in Dolan’s film as well.

Read More: Oscars 2017 Surprises and Snubs: Amy Adams and ‘Weiner’ Out, Mel Gibson and ‘Passengers’ In

The Cesars have little import on the Oscars, though there is often some crossover. The French Academy did recognize Kenneth Lonergan...

FranceTV Distribution, the commercial arm of French national broadcaster France Televisions, is launching a feature sales division. The unit will kick off with The Red Collar, the next film from Les Enfants Du Marais helmer Jean Becker. Produced by ICE3, the drama stars The Intouchables‘ François Cluzet and Polisse‘s Nicolas Duvauchelle. It’s an adaptation of the Wwi novel by Jean-Christophe Rufin — a founder of Doctors Without Borders and a former Ambassador of France in…...