De Gaulle: Resistance – Where to Watch the WWII Epic in Theaters

Simon Abkarian stars as Charles de Gaulle in Antonin Baudry’s sweeping WWII epic about the general who refused to surrender France.

Last Updated on 7 November 2026 by frenchflicks

“Based on British historian Julian Jackson’s biography ‘De Gaulle: A Certain Idea of France’, the film blends the sweep of a wartime epic with the mechanics of a geopolitical thriller”. – Variety

Presented out of competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, the film received a generally positive critical reception. Le Monde described it as a particularly appealing attempt at a French-style blockbuster. Le Figaro and Libération were enthusiastic, praising its cinematic energy and effectiveness. Critics also appreciated Baudry’s willingness to humanize de Gaulle, highlighting his eccentricities, doubts, and political isolation.

What Is De Gaulle Part I: Resistance About?

June 1940. One man refuses to give up. Standing alone against the odds, this then-unknown general makes his way to London to save what remains of freedom. Without an army or support, yet driven by an irrational conviction – the belief that France, his France, has not laid down its arms – he seeks to convince the world that the battle for France is neither over nor lost.

Where to Watch De Gaulle Part 1 : Resistance in Theaters

The story continues with De Gaulle Part II: Liberty, set to arrive in theaters on December 6. Watch the official trailer.

More French movies in theaters

Why You Should Watch De Gaulle Part I: Resistance in Theaters

As portrayed by Simon Abkarian, de Gaulle has an imperiousness that closely matches the man seen in archival footage. In London, he is quick to befriend Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Simon Russell Beale), and the two set out to persuade the United States to enter the war.

The film also tells the parallel story of two young resistance fighters, Fernand (Florian Lesieur) and Livia (Anamaria Vartolomei), whose anger at the Vichy government drives them to take radical action. – The New York Times

Every Cannes Film Festival needs a film like “De Gaulle: Résistance,” a proudly French, large-scale production with the energy of a vintage Hollywood blockbuster. Indeed, Antonin Baudry’s old-fashioned epic flaunts all these big-screen qualities in delicious excess, delivering a traditionally entertaining biopic about France’s eponymous Great Man and his consequential years in the early 1940s as an exiled general with a romantic vision of his country, which had just capitulated to Germany. – Variety