These scenes of debate (reminiscent of Cantet’s The Class from 2008) thrum with energy, thanks to the spontaneous and full-bodied performances of the nonprofessional cast, whose improvised dialogue feels casual, yet cuttingly profound.
The Workshop(L'Atelier)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France · 2017
1h 54m
Director Laurent Cantet
Starring Marina Foïs, Matthieu Lucci, Warda Rammach, Florian Beaujean
Genre Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Olivia, a popular Parisian novelist, agrees to teach a summer writing course in La Ciotat in the south of France. Antoine, a difficult young man, grabs her attention as he keeps to himself and writes shocking proposals. When he starts to take interest in right wing ideology, Olivia and him form a tense relationship.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Though the film occasionally assumes the airs of a slow-burning thriller, the overall product remains a firmly intellectual exercise.
Slant Magazine by Christopher Gray
Matthieu Lucci deftly carries the weight of all the symptoms that The Workshop loads upon Antoine, a resonant character whose inscrutability is at once dangerous, sympathetic, and eerily apt.
Screen International by Dan Fainaru
The Workshop conveys a stunningly authentic portrait of French youth today; their class, racial and occupational concerns.
RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire
For myself, I couldn’t avoid the irony that, in finding it ultimately rather superficial and self-satisfied in that particular Parisian way, I was echoing Antoine’s criticism of Olivia’s writing.
A sly, supple and repeatedly surprising collision of literary, moral and political lines of debate that marks an enthralling return to form for writer-director Laurent Cantet.
The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer
Featuring sharp performances from Marina Fois (Polisse) and promising newcomer Matthieu Lucci, the film shows Cantet returning to form...with a story that pursues the themes of his best work while underscoring some of the issues currently facing his homeland.
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
Cantet remains a gifted filmmaker — The Workshop’s semi-improvisational aspects are no less impressive than those in "The Class," and he’s at least superficially engaged with the current state of the world — but this isn’t the return to form that his fans have awaited over the past decade.
Users who liked this film also liked
Le Mac
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2010
- Director Pascal Bourdiaux
- Cast José Garcia, Gilbert Melki, Carmen Maura, Arsène Mosca, Jo Prestia, Catalina Denis
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Time Out
(L'Emploi du temps)
A newly unemployed man goes to great lengths to deceive the ones he loves.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2001
- Director Laurent Cantet
- Cast Aurélien Recoing, Karin Viard, Serge Livrozet, Jean-Pierre Mangeot, Monique Mangeot, Didier Perez
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The White Ribbon
(Das weisse Band)
In rural Germany just before World War I, strange things are happening to a once-ordinary, authoritarian village society.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, Austria, France • 2009
- Director Michael Haneke
- Cast Ursina Lardi, Ulrich Tukur, Burghart Klaußner, Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Susanne Lothar
- Genre Drama, Mystery
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Gilded Cage
(La Cage Dorée)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2013
- Director Ruben Alves
- Cast Rita Blanco, Joaquim de Almeida, Roland Giraud, Chantal Lauby, Barbara Cabrita, Lannick Gautry
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Hoopla
Frantz
A young woman grieving the death of her fiancé meets a mysterious French man who's visiting her fiancé's grave.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Germany • 2016
- Director François Ozon
- Cast Paula Beer, Pierre Niney, Ernst Stötzner, Marie Gruber, Johann von Bülow, Anton von Lucke
- Genre History, Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, OVID, Dekkoo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Crackle, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Where Are You Going, Habibi?
(Wo willst du hin, Habibi?)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany • 2015
- Director Tor Iben
- Cast Cem Alkan, Martin Walde, Ilknur Boyraz, Özay Fecht, Neil Malik Abdullah, Rana Farahani
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Video, Filmzie, Freevee, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Status Update
A new teenager in town discovers an app that makes his posts come true.
- Canada, United States, China • 2018
- Director Scott Speer
- Cast Ross Lynch, Olivia Holt, Harvey Guillén, Gregg Sulkin, Courtney Eaton, Rob Riggle
- Genre Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Gaspard at the Wedding
(Gaspard va au mariage)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2018
- Director Antony Cordier
- Cast Félix Moati, Laetitia Dosch, Christa Théret, Johan Heldenbergh, Guillaume Gouix, Marina Foïs
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Revolting Rhymes
Magical fairy tales with unexpected twists
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Sweden • 2017
- Director Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer
- Cast Dominic West, Gemma Chan, Rose Leslie, Tamsin Greig, Bertie Carvel, Rob Brydon
- Genre Family, Animation, Comedy, Fantasy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Let the Sunshine In
(Un beau soleil intérieur)
When you're not in love, what do you do?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2017
- Director Claire Denis
- Cast Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Gérard Depardieu, Josiane Balasko, Philippe Katerine, Alex Descas
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
C'est la vie!
(Le Sens de la fête)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, Canada, France • 2017
- Director Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache
- Cast Jean-Pierre Bacri, Gilles Lellouche, Jean-Paul Rouve, Vincent Macaigne, Alban Ivanov, Eye Haïdara
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
School of Life
(L'École buissonnière)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2017
- Director Nicolas Vanier
- Cast François Cluzet, Jean Scandel, Eric Elmosnino, François Berléand, Valérie Karsenti, Thomas Durand
- Genre Drama, Comedy, Family
- Available on OVID, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Kanopy
The Insult
(L'Insulte)
One day, Tony gets into a heated exchange with a Palestinian refugee, which ends in a lawsuit.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Cyprus, Belgium • 2017
- Director Ziad Doueiri
- Cast Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Rita Hayek, Christine Choueiri, Diamand Bou Abboud, Camille Salameh
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Nothing to Hide
(Le Jeu)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2018
- Director Fred Cavayé
- Cast Bérénice Bejo, Stéphane De Groodt, Suzanne Clément, Roschdy Zem, Doria Tillier, Vincent Elbaz
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Méliès Mystery
(Le Mystère Méliès)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2021
- Director Eric Lange
- Cast Leonard Maltin, Serge Bromberg, Costa-Gavras, Michel Gondry, Randy Haberkamp, Heather Linville
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max