Last Updated on 4 January 2026 by frenchflicks
If you’re in the mood for recent French films that feel current, grounded, and easy to get into, TV5MONDE and TV5MONDE+ have a strong lineup right now. These picks lean into real-life stories — classrooms, families, friendships, and social issues — without feeling heavy or inaccessible. Here are ten recent French films worth streaming, all available with English subtitles.
Un métier sérieux
Watch on TV5MONDE on January 11 at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Anyone who’s ever been in a classroom will recognize something in Un métier sérieux. The film follows a group of middle school teachers as they start a new school year, juggling demanding students, bureaucracy, and their own doubts. When a young substitute teacher joins the team, he quickly realizes how tough — and how meaningful — the job can be. With familiar faces like Vincent Lacoste, François Cluzet, and Adèle Exarchopoulos, this one feels honest, warm, and very relatable.
Pas de vagues
Watch on TV5MONDE on January 18 at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT and streaming on TV5MONDE+ beginning January 7
Things escalate fast in Pas de vagues. Julien is a well-meaning teacher who tries to support a quiet student, only to find himself at the center of a damaging rumor. What starts as a misunderstanding quickly spirals, showing how fear and suspicion can take over a school environment. Led by François Civil, the film is tense without being sensational, and it stays focused on the human cost of rumor and accusation.
Normale
Streaming on TV5MONDE+ beginning January 7
In Normale, daily life already feels like a balancing act. Lucie is 15 and taking care of her father, who has multiple sclerosis, while trying to pass as a “normal” teenager. When a social worker enters the picture, their fragile routine is threatened. The film keeps things simple and close to the characters, showing how much responsibility can quietly fall on young shoulders, with Benoît Poelvoorde bringing warmth and vulnerability to the role of the father.
Cassandre
Available on TV5MONDE CINEMA USA beginning January 16
Set during the summer of 1998, Cassandre focuses on a teenage girl spending the season at her family’s country home. Away from school and routine, she begins to explore her feelings, her body, and her sense of self. The film takes its time, capturing the awkwardness and intensity of that in-between age, with a natural performance from Billie Blain at its center.
Le soleil de trop près
Available on TV5MONDE CINEMA USA beginning January 23
After leaving a psychiatric hospital, a man in his thirties moves in with his sister, who becomes his main support system. Le soleil de trop près stays close to their everyday life — shared meals, small tensions, moments of care — rather than big dramatic turns. It’s a quiet film about living with mental illness and the complicated love between siblings, anchored by strong performances from Clément Roussier and Marine Vacth.
En tongs au pied de l’Himalaya
Watch En tongs au pied de l’Himalaya on TV5MONDE+
This film looks at school from a very different angle. Andréa is six years old and on the autism spectrum, and his final year of kindergarten will determine whether he can stay in a traditional school setting. His mother Pauline is already stretched thin, dealing with financial instability and life as a single parent. En tongs au pied de l’Himalaya focuses on her fight to keep things together, offering a grounded, realistic portrait of parenthood under pressure.
Une histoire provisoire
Watch Une histoire provisoire on TV5MONDE+
Three people, one shared space, and a lot of emotional baggage. Une histoire provisoire brings together Sasha, fresh from a breakup, Marjan, who is facing a serious marital crisis, and Mina, an American whose arrival changes the mood entirely. What starts as an awkward cohabitation slowly turns into something more open and unexpected. The film is dialogue-driven and intimate, built around small shifts rather than big plot twists.
Les gens d’à côté
Watch Les gens d’à côté on TV5MONDE+
Lucie lives a quiet, solitary life in a suburban housing estate, still deeply affected by her partner’s suicide. When a young family moves in nearby, casual interactions slowly turn into something more meaningful. Les gens d’à côté is about what happens when people allow others back into their lives, even when grief hasn’t fully faded. It’s subtle, understated, and very much about everyday moments.
Les survivants
Watch Les survivants on TV5MONDE+
High in the Italian Alps, Samuel retreats to his chalet, hoping for solitude. One night, that isolation is broken when Chehreh, a young Afghan woman, seeks refuge in his home while trying to cross the border into France. Les survivants becomes a tense, human story about choice and responsibility, set against a harsh mountain landscape that mirrors the moral dilemma at its center.
Les algues vertes
Watch Les algues vertes on TV5MONDE+
Based on real events, Les algues vertes follows journalist Inès Léraud as she investigates the toxic algal blooms affecting Brittany’s coastline. As she digs deeper, she runs into silence, pressure, and powerful interests determined to keep things quiet. The film plays like an investigation rather than a lecture, making a complex environmental issue feel urgent and very real.
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