The 40 most popular french crime movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Léon: The Professional
1994 · 1h 51m · FR
Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.


Anatomy of a Fall
2023 · 2h 31m · FR
A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.


Taken 2
2012 · 1h 31m · FR
In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.


From Paris with Love
2010 · 1h 32m · UK
James Reese has a good job as an ambassador's aid in France, but his real passion is a side gig—working in a minor role in the CIA. He would love to be a full-fledged agent and can't believe his luck when he lands an assignment with Charlie Wax. Trigger-happy Charlie soon has James crying for his desk job, but when he learns that the same guys they're trying to catch are after him, James realises that Charlie may be his only hope of survival.


Taxi
1998 · 1h 26m · FR
In Marseilles a skilled pizza delivery boy Daniel who drives a scooter finally has his dreams come true. He gets a taxi license. Caught by the police for a huge speed infraction, he will help Emilien, a loser inspector who can't drive, on the track of German bank robbers, so he doesn't lose his license and his dream job.


Irreversible
2002 · 1h 37m · FR
A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.


Baise-moi
2000 · 1h 17m · FR
Nadine and Manu are two mad women, as tidy as can be, almost perfectionists. They have several things in common: extreme sex, drugs, beer and the trigger. They find the solution to their problems with guns and beware to those who dare to get in their way!


The Transporter
2002 · 1h 32m · US
Former Special Forces officer Frank Martin will deliver anything to anyone for the right price, and his no-questions-asked policy puts him in high demand. But when he realizes his latest cargo is alive, it sets in motion a dangerous chain of events. The bound and gagged Lai is being smuggled to France by a shady American businessman, and Frank works to save her as his own illegal activities are uncovered by a French detective.


Transporter 2
2005 · 1h 28m · FR
Professional driver, and former Special Forces officer, Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policy director and his family. The young boy in the family is targeted for kidnapping, and Frank immediately becomes involved in protecting the child and exposing the kidnappers.


Minotaur
2026 · 2h 15m · FR
When Gleb, a successful company director, finds himself under siege from mounting corporate pressures, an increasingly unstable world, and the discovery of his wife's affair, the collapse of his carefully ordered life accelerates toward violence.


Transporter 3
2008 · 1h 44m · FR
Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.


Ruby & Quentin
2003 · 1h 25m · FR
After hiding his loot and getting thrown in jail, brooding outlaw Ruby befriends Quentin, a dim-witted and garrulous giant. After Quentin botches a solo escape attempt, they make a break together. Unable to shake the clumsy Quentin, Ruby is forced to take him along as he pursues his former partners in crime to avenge the death of the woman he loved and get to the money.


Femme Fatale
2002 · 1h 54m · CH
A $10-million diamond rip-off, a stolen identity, a new life married to a diplomat. Laure Ash has risked big, won big. But then a tabloid shutterbug snaps her picture in Paris, and suddenly, enemies from Laure's secret past know who and where she is. And they all want their share of the diamond heist. Or her life. Or both.


Dogman
2023 · 1h 55m · FR
A boy, bruised by life, finds his salvation through the love of his dogs.


Unleashed
2005 · 1h 43m · CN
Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs, where Danny is the main contender. When Bart's crew is in a car accident, Danny escapes and meets a blind, kindhearted piano tuner who takes him in and uses music to free the fighter's long-buried heart.


Black List
1984 · 1h 23m
Three teenage Parisian punks are duped by a crime syndicate into committing a bank robbery that will distract the authorities while the seasoned crooks hijack an armored truck across town. Disaster ensues and two of the youngsters are killed, including the estranged daughter of widowed auto repair shop owner Jeanne Dufour. A grieving Jeanne ignores her own fear, as well as the law, and sets out to eliminate all of those responsible for her daughter’s death.


Breathless
1960 · 1h 30m · FR
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.


It Was Just an Accident
2025 · 1h 43m · IR
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.


A Private Life
2025 · 1h 48m · FR
When renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner learns of the sudden death of a patient, she suspects murder. She mounts a private investigation, enlisting an odd assortment of quirky characters.


Miss Sloane
2016 · 2h 13m · FR
An ambitious lobbyist faces off against the powerful gun lobby in an attempt to pass gun control legislation.


Ad Vitam
2025 · 1h 37m · FR
When he and his pregnant wife are attacked in their home, a former elite agent becomes trapped in a deadly manhunt tied to his own painful past.


The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
1989 · 2h 4m · FR
When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.


The Seed of the Sacred Fig
2024 · 2h 47m · FR
Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.


Blood Red
2014 · 1h 29m · FR
Brest, the end of the world. A young woman's foot is found near the sea. Alma Schneider, a cop fresh from Paris, leads the investigation. She can only count on the support of César Istria, forensic pathologist and passionate archaeologist. Together, they find the site where the victim is believed to have been buried. But the body they exhume is not that of a woman! It's that of a man, probably a sailor. Not one murder to solve, but two... And the mystery thickens still further when they realize that the young woman was in fact a transsexual named Diana, a veritable icon and influential figure in the whole town. Alma and César join forces to solve this enigma, which takes them deep into the bowels of Brest.


Pickpocket
1959 · 1h 15m · FR
Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.


Case 137
2025 · 1h 55m · FR
When Internal Affairs officer Stéphanie investigates a young man severely injured during a chaotic Paris demonstration and finds no police misconduct, the routine case hits close to home upon her discovering the victim is from her native town.


Aux abois
2005 · 1h 37m · FR
Paul, a former insurer, is struggling to make ends meet. He agrees to meet Sarrebry, a loan shark introduced to him by his friend Daubelle. Paul mortally knocks out the disgusting crook and steals a large sum of money from him.


Angel
2001 · 1h 55m
Léa is a strong person, but when she comes out of prison, she decides to get a fresh start. She would like to forget her cold and aloof father Vittorio Pastore, her young and irresponsible brother Samy for who she went in jail and the Zach's gang, the thug she used to love. But nothing elapses as she expected.


Smokin' Aces
2006 · 1h 49m · FR
When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.


The Money Maker
2026 · 2h 8m · FR
A Polish engineer relocates to France and becomes a legendary counterfeiter. Working solo, he crafts flawless fake francs worth millions over 14 years, earning the nickname "Cézanne of counterfeit money" for his artistic skill and output.


Assault on Precinct 13
2005 · 1h 49m · US
On New Year's Eve, inside a police station that's about to be closed for good, officer Jake Roenick must cobble together a force made up cops and criminals to save themselves from a mob looking to kill mobster Marion Bishop.


Fatal Island
2003 · 1h 40m · FR
An attractive young woman who is dedicated to seduce lonely men in business then flees police steal when recognized by one of his victims. Hiding in a pleasure boat, set sail with a small group of tourists heading to an island paradise. Shortly after landing, the guide found murdered ...


Santosh
2024 · 2h 8m · IN
A government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered, she is pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.


Le Samouraï
1967 · 1h 45m · FR
After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.


Revolver
2005 · 1h 51m · FR
Hotshot gambler Jake Green is long on bravado and seriously short of common sense. Rarely is he allowed in any casino because he's a bona fide winner and, in fact, has taken so much money over the years that he's the sole client of his accountant elder brother, Billy. Invited to a private game, Jake is in fear of losing his life.


Contraband
2012 · 1h 49m · IS
When his brother-in-law runs afoul of a drug lord, family man Chris Farraday turns to a skill he abandoned long ago—smuggling—to repay the debt. But the job goes wrong, and Farraday finds himself wanted by cops, crooks and killers alike.


MFKZ
2018 · 1h 35m · FR
Angelino is just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. But an otherwise unremarkable scooter accident caused by a beautiful, mysterious stranger is about to transform his life... into a waking nightmare! He starts seeing monstrous forms prowling around all over the city... Is Angelino losing his mind, or could an alien invasion really be happening this quietly...?


Les Misérables
2019 · 1h 44m · FR
Stéphane has recently joined the Anti-Crime Squad in Montfermeil, in the suburbs of Paris, France, where Victor Hugo set his famed novel “Les Miserables”. Alongside his new colleagues Chris and Gwada – both experienced members of the team – he quickly discovers tensions running high between local gangs. When the trio finds themselves overrun during the course of an arrest, a drone captures the encounter, threatening to expose the reality of everyday life.


Vent mauvais
2007 · 1h 32m · FR
Sent to repair the computers at a supermarket in a town hit by a storm, a technician discovers some unusual things and is faced with difficult decisions.


Le Trou
1960 · 2h 12m · FR
Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.
French cinema invented much of what we consider film language, then reinvented it again with the Nouvelle Vague of the late 1950s. It remains Europe's most prolific film industry, with a strong tradition of state support for auteur work.
Crime films trace the machinery around lawbreaking — heists, syndicates, investigations, and the people worn down by all three. From film noir through the American gangster epic to modern procedurals, it's a genre that doubles as social commentary.