French films about private detectives

List of the best French films about private detectives according to the audience: City Hunter, Veronica Mars, The Lookout, The Beast, Knock on Wood, Lullaby for Pi, Moka, A Very Long Engagement, For a Cop's Hide, Aloys.

In the top there are new films of 2023, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Country
Markimdb: 6.5
Genreaction, comedy, crime
CountryFrance

Nicky Larson is tasked to recover the perfume of Cupid, a perfume that would make anyone who uses it irresistible.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrethriller, comedy, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA, United Kingdom, France, Germany
Duration01:47

Years after walking away from her past as a teenage private eye, Veronica Mars gets pulled back to her hometown - just in time for her high school reunion - in order to help her old flame Logan Echolls, who's embroiled in a murder mystery.

Markimdb: 5.7
Genreaction, thriller, crime
CountryFrance, Belgium, Italy
Duration01:29

When police is about to apprehend a famous gang of bank robbers, an elite sniper opens fire from a roof, thus facilitating the flee of his accomplices. However, one of them is seriously injured, which compromises the plans of the thieves.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genreaction, thriller, crime, detective
CountrySouth Korea

Two rival detectives with different methods try to solve the murder of a missing girl after discovering her mutilated body in the tidelands of Incheon.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genrecomedy, adventure, crime
CountryFrance, Mexico, Malta
Duration01:31

When the boss' unlucky daughter is missing in South America, Campana is sent to watch the boss' most unlucky employee who is sent as a private detective in hopes he can duplicate the daughter's mistakes.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Canada
Duration01:38

A washed-up musician befriends a reclusive artist with an unusual name.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama
CountryLuxembourg, France

Diane Kramer is led by one obsession: to find the driver of the mocha color Mercedes which hit her son and devastated her life. With a few belongings, some money and a gun, she goes to Evian, where she's learned the driver lives.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genremelodrama, drama, detective, military
CountryFrance, USA
Duration02:08

In 1919, Mathilde was 19 years old. Two years earlier, her fiancé Manech left for the front at the Somme. Like millions of others he was "killed on the field of battle." It's written in black and white on the official notice. But Mathilde refuses to believe it. If Manech had died, she would know. She hangs on to her intuition as tightly as she would onto the last thread of hope linking her to her lover. A former sergeant tells her in vain that Manech died in the no man's land of a trench named Bingo Crepescule, in the company of four other men condemned to die for self-inflicted wounds. Her path ahead is full of obstacles but Mathilde is not frightened. Anything is possible to someone who is willing to challenge fate...

Markimdb: 6.4
Genreaction, thriller, melodrama, crime
CountryFrance

Victim of manipulation, Cop Choucas is wanted for two murders and searched for by every cop in town.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrefantastic, fantasy, drama
CountryLuxembourg, France
Duration01:45

A lonely private investigator is contacted by a mysterious woman who pulls him into a mind game known as “telephone walking”. Fascinated by her voice, Aloys discovers an imaginary universe that allows him to break out of his isolation.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrethriller, melodrama
CountryUnited Kingdom, France, USA
Duration01:36

A thriller centered on a con artist, his wife, and a stranger who try to flee a foreign country after one of them is caught up in the murder of a private detective.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA, France
Duration01:50

How can a split-second decision change your life? While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of low-life burglar Freddy Russell. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father, Ben, rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genredrama
CountryArgentina, France, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany

A small town in an Argentinian province, 1975. The life of Claudio, a successful lawyer, gets complicated when he has a stupid quarrel with a stranger in a crowded restaurant.

Markimdb: 5
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance, Belgium

One evening, when they come home, Mr. and Mrs. Prioux are astounded to find that a certain Patrick has moved into their place. This strange young man has returned home to his parents in order to introduce his wife.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genredrama, adventure, family, detective
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, France
Duration02:06

Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.

Markimdb: 7
Genrecomedy, drama, music
CountryFrance
Duration01:46

Paul is a sweet man-child, raised — and smothered — by his two eccentric aunts in Paris since the death of his parents when he was a toddler. Now thirty-three, he still does not speak. Paul's aunts have only one dream for him: to win piano competitions. Although Paul practices dutifully, he remains unfulfilled until he submits to the interventions of his upstairs neighbour. Suitably named after the novelist, Madame Proust offers Paul a concoction that unlocks repressed memories from his childhood and awakens the most delightful of fantasies.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFinland, France, Germany
Duration01:33

Marcel Marx, a former bohemian and struggling author, has given up his literary ambitions and relocated to the port city Le Havre. He leads a simple life based around his wife Arletty, his favourite bar and his not too profitable profession as a shoeshiner. As Arletty suddenly becomes seriously ill, Marcel's path crosses with an underage illegal immigrant from Africa, who needs Marcel's help to hide from the police.

Markimdb: 6
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:47

He’s lived for too long off his parents. It’s time for 40-year-old slacker Jacques to get by on his own. One-time gigolo and a borderline bum, he knows what he wants – to become rich and famous. He even has a business plan: tourism combined with cheap plastic surgery. Jacques moves in with his older sister, Monique, who manages an Emmaus village in the south west of France. And before long, the smooth-talking chancer has convinced a group of workers to pool their meagre funds and set out on a trip to a clinic in Bulgaria, where all their dreams of a brighter and more beautiful future will all come true. If only…

Markimdb: 6.6
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:44

Serge Tanneur (Fabrice Luchini) is at the pinnacle of his acting career when he decides to turn his back on show business and become a hermit living off of France’s Atlantic coast. Three years later, Gauthier Valence (Lambert Wilson), a beloved TV actor, shows up on the island to offer Serge a role in his directorial debut – a rendition of Molière’s classic play, “The Misanthrope”. Serge refuses at first, but then suggests that they rehearse the first scene and after five days he’ll decide if he wants to dothe play or not. What ensues is a battle of brawn and wits and peculiar encounters with a hotel maid who longs to be a pornstar and an Italian divorcée.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genrehorror, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:17

When a novelist realizes her terrifying stories are coming true, she returns to her hometown to face the demons from her past that inspire her writing.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:21

Pierre has been married for 15 years and has two kids. He still loves his wife and is fulfilled in his role as a father. Overall, he’s a contented man. Until one evening, he meets Elsa. They chat, laugh, and joke around in a way that doesn’t happen every day. Two weeks later, they run into each other again by chance. The same easy mutual attraction they felt for one another is just as strong, and they tell each other as much. A line has been crossed. But Elsa has a golden rule never to get involved with married men, and Pierre wants to remain faithful. They go their separate ways without swapping phone numbers, preferring to let life take its own course. As the line blurs between how they imagine their relationship and what has actually happened, their fantasies start to mingle with reality

Markimdb: 5
Genrecomedy, family
CountryFrance
Duration01:27

Arnaud Mustier, lawyer and brilliant philosopher, arouses the annoyance of his younger brother Jules, age sixteen. One day, Arnaud is a victim of a late adolescent crisis. Helped by Jules, he is going to catch up this phase of the life which he did not live.

Markimdb: 5.6
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Belgium

Lucie and her father Hugo have grown closer since Lucie's mother left unexpectedly a year prior. When her mother returns, Hugo becomes jealous and angry.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration01:40

Antoine is a joyful but disenchanted photographer. His only true friend, Mateo, is 7 years old and the son of his neighbor, who is often absent. One day, he hears a piano sonata coming from the building across the courtyard. Mesmerized by the music, he becomes obsessed by Elena, the beautiful but mysterious pianist, and starts to photograph her at every opportunity. An intense relationship develops between fragile and idealistic Elena and Antoine, who is transformed by this encounter.

Markimdb: 5.8
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryItaly, France
Duration01:35

An accident involving a 16-years old prompts private eye Corso to an investigation that will unearth a deep web of corruption in today's Rome.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genrecomedy, drama, family
CountryFrance
Duration01:44

Lea, Adrian, and their little brother Theo, born deaf, go on holiday in Provence with their grandfather, Paul "Oliveron" they never met because of a family quarrel. It is not the holidays they dreamed, especially their father announced yesterday that he was leaving the house. In less than 24 hours, it is the clash of generations between teenagers and a grandfather they believe psycho. A wrong. Because the turbulent past will resurface and Paul Seventies will land deep in the Alpilles. During this summer tormented both generations will be processed one by the other.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrethriller, drama
CountryFrance

Fifteen-year-old Céline knows more about life than is appropriate for her age. She wanders the streets, surviving, with the help of her boyfriend Romain, thanks to her defiance and ruthless practicality. She secretly sleeps in the garden house of a luxury villa, where one evening she is discovered by the owner, Judge Henri van Eyck. Despite his wife Nathalie's reticence, he takes the girl in and Céline gradually gains their goodwill and affection. The fragile balance of their mutual trust, however, comes in serious jeopardy when the web of lies the girl has told her protectors begins to unravel, revealing her real motives.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryFrance, Luxembourg, Belgium

Pensioners Nina and Madeleine have hidden their deep and passionate love for many decades. From everybody’s point of view, including Madeleine’s family, they are simply two neighbors living on the top floor of their building. They come and go between their two apartments, sharing the tender delights of everyday life together. Until the day their relationship is turned upside down by an unexpected event leading Madeleine’s daughter to slowly unveil the truth about them.

Markimdb: 4.6
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance

Willy and Tony have a brilliant idea for getting out of it financially: stealing a dog from the brigade des stups. But everything does not go as planned and the two accomplices will have to rely on the most corrupt of the cops.

Markimdb: 5.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance

Thirty-year-old Ben is about to marry Juliette. His quiet, ordered life will fall to pieces when he meets up again with the person he secretly wants to see the most: Vanessa, the high school bombshell who never so much as looked in his direction. She's back in Paris, and the only person she now knows is him…

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryFrance

Benjamin is meant to be a great doctor, he’s certain of it. But his first experience as a junior doctor in the hospital ward where his father works doesn’t turn out the way he hoped it would. Responsibility is overwhelming, his father is all but present, and his co-junior partner, a foreign doctor, is far more experimented than he is. This internship will force Benjamin to confront his limits… and start his way to adulthood.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genreaction, thriller, comedy, drama, crime
CountryFrance, USA
Duration01:57

A dangerous international spy is determined to give up his high stakes life to finally build a closer relationship with his estranged wife and daughter. But first, he must complete one last mission - even if it means juggling the two toughest assignments yet: hunting down the world's most ruthless terrorist and looking after his teenage daughter for the first time in ten years, while his wife is out of town.

Markimdb: 6
Genrefantasy, melodrama, drama
CountryFrance
Duration02:07

An overstressed American businessman and a French chambermaid make a connection at an airport hotel in Paris.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrefantasy, comedy, family
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration02:31

Christmas is on its way and with it disaster. The 92,000 responsible for manufacturing children's toys all become sick at the same time! It's a tough moment for Santa, better known as Father Christmas. He's left no choice: he must make an emergency trip to Earth with his reindeer to search for a remedy. When he arrives, he must find some allies to save the magic of Christmas.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genredrama, detective
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration01:31

Sarah tells Paul that she wants out of their marriage; the next day she disappears. A year later and Paul along with their children return to his childhood town to start anew after the loss of his wife and their mother.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration01:38

A heartbroken literary critic turns his despair into creativity following a bitter divorce, only to encounter an enchanting beauty who poses a major challenge to his newfound cynicism. Marc Marronnier thought his marriage was going well until his wife deemed him immature, and left him for a high-profile writer. Devastated, he began filtering all of his heartache into a misanthropic manuscript decrying the virtues of true love. But later, when Marc falls hard for his cousin's radiant and gorgeous wife, his entire life is turned upside down. Louise Bourgoin and Gaspard Proust star in a film by actor and author-turned-director Frederic Beigbeder.

Markimdb: 4.9
Genrecomedy, crime
CountryFrance
Duration01:28

Thomas Gardesse, a traveling alarm systems salesman, is arrested for a minor offense and sentenced to six months imprisonment. To win the respect of his fellow inmates, he claims he is "The Marquis," a brilliant robber whose identity has remained a mystery. Two weeks before his release, an armed robber named Quentin Tasseau helps him escape and takes him to Manila so he can take part in a robbery whose mastermind requires the talents of the Marquis.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance
Duration01:42

Paris, in the early 1960s. Jean-Louis Joubert is a serious but uptight stockbroker, married to Suzanne, a starchy class-conscious woman and father of two arrogant teenage boys, currently in a boarding school. The affluent man lives a steady yet boring life. At least until, due to fortuitous circumstances, Maria, the charming new maid at the service of Jean-Louis' family, makes him discover the servants' quarter on the sixth floor of the luxury building he owns and lives in. There live a crowd of lively Spanish maids who will help Jean-Louis to open to a new civilization and a new approach of life. In their company - and more precisely in the company of beautiful Maria - Jean-Louis will gradually become another man, a better man.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genredrama
CountryFrance
Duration01:30

Mathias, aboard a ship with his wife, sees a boy with a striking resemblance to himself and is called - Mathias. He then tracks him to a town north of France to discover that the boys parents are exactly like his parents, only to know that his life is payed over again just 30 years post. He then chooses to be the guest in his own life, while he has a life to live at hand.

Markimdb: 5.4
Genremelodrama, history
CountryFrance
Duration01:38

A passionate love story set against a backdrop of sexual freedom, loosely based on the relationship between 19th century authors Pierre Louÿs and Marie de Régnier

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, adventure, family
CountryFrance, Norway

Christian, a visionary scientist, studies wild geese. For his son, a teenager obsessed with video games, the idea of spending a holiday with his father in the wilderness is a nightmare. However, father and son will get together around a crazy project: save a species endangered, thanks to the ultralight of Christian! Then begins an incredible and perilous journey ...

Markimdb: 7
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance
Duration01:40

Roméo and Juliette are two young actors. They fall in love at first sight, move in together and make a baby. A love story and the founding of a home like millions of others. Except that their little boy, Adam, behaves abnormally. The young parents try hard to persuade themselves that everything is okay but, with the passing of time, they cannot delude themselves anymore: their son has a problem. From now on, war is declared. A war against illness. A war against Death. A war against despair.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genredrama, military
CountryFrance
Duration01:51

On the night of 16 July 1942, ten year old Sarah and her parents are being arrested and transported to the Velodrome d'Hiver in Paris where thousands of other jews are being sent to get deported. Sarah however managed to lock her little brother in a closet just before the police entered their apartment. Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist in Paris, gets the assignment to write an article about this raid, a black page in the history of France. She starts digging archives and through Sarah's file discovers a well kept secret about her own in-laws.

Markimdb: 4.4
Genrecomedy
CountryFrance, Belgium

Gaston is a new guy at the Peticoin start-up. With his delusional inventions, he will change the lives of his colleagues. Cat, seagull, cow, and gaffophone will be at the center of the mishaps of this genius laidback handyman who wants only to do good, but has the gift of annoying Prunelle, his boss. Can those Gaston's gaffes galore prevent the buy-out of the Peticoin by Mr. de Mesmaeker?

Markimdb: 5.6
Genredrama, crime
CountryFrance
Duration01:42

Revolves around the relationship between a gambling addict and a young woman who falls madly in love with him and will stop at nothing to win his heart.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genrefantasy, comedy, melodrama
CountryFrance, Belgium, South Korea
Duration02:52

A man tries that his wife fall in love with him again, after to wake up in an alternate reality where she never knew him.

Markimdb: 7.7
Genredrama, detective
CountryFrance, Italy, Belgium, Iran
Duration02:10

After four years apart, Ahmad returns to his wife Marie in Paris in order to progress their divorce. During his brief stay, he cannot help noticing the strained relationship between Marie and her daughter Lucie. As he attempts to improve matters between mother and daughter Ahmad unwittingly lifts the lid on a long buried secret...

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama
CountryFrance

Lisa and Marine live a life of relative companionship together, where the only man permitted into the equation is Lisa’s young son, Leo. However, their simple existence is thrown into disarray when Marie meets and falls in love with Alex, a customer at her bookshop. Lisa is left feeling excluded, and tension develop. But soon an unexpected accident forces all of those involved to reassess the situation and adopt a different position in each other’s lives.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genredrama
CountryFrance
Duration01:50

Yann, a cook, and Nadia, a waitress and mother of 9-year-old child, decide to risk everything on the purchase of a restaurant. With plenty of talent, energy, love and dreams, but no finance of their own, they find themselves forced into a jungle of financing and bank loans that quickly overwhelms them. To bail them out, Nadia has to take a job in Canada, while Yann is forced to stay behind to save the restaurant. Together, he and the child confront a relentless avalanche of creditors, an uncaring system and the daily grind from which there is no respite… Yann finally understands that his only chance of salvation lies in joining his lover – as well as reuniting mother and child – by following Nadia to Canada and a better life.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance

When a romance between a widow and a notorious libertine takes an unexpected turn, Mademoiselle de Joncquières becomes instrumental to one lover’s plans for revenge.




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