De Gaulle: Liberté

2026 2h 39m FR

🙌

7.8

BANGER

★7.8TMDB · 195

HistoryDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Part two of a two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Simon Abkarian
Charles de Gaulle
Niels Schneider
Général Leclerc
Thierry Lhermitte
Henri Giraud
Karim Leklou
Blazej
Anamaria Vartolomei
Livia
Simon Russell Beale
Winston Churchill
Kacey Mottet Klein
Courcel
Tom Mison
Anthony Eden

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Antonin Baudry
Writers: Antonin Baudry, Bérénice Vila
Languages: English, French
Countries: France, Belgium, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 159 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 55% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released this year — you're seeing it while it's still in the cultural conversation.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Belgium, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "La Bataille de Gaulle (Collection)" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Antonin Baudry, shot by Pierre Cottereau. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Théo Cascio. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Antonin Baudry directs. Pierre Cottereau behind the camera. Théo Cascio scores. Rehman Nizar Ali cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Belgium, United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 159 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Earned back only 55% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released this year — you're seeing it while it's still in the cultural conversation.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
5International production across 3 countries: France, Belgium, United States of America.
6Part of the "La Bataille de Gaulle (Collection)" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Antonin Baudry, shot by Pierre Cottereau. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Théo Cascio. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Rehman Nizar Ali shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Simon Abkarian and Niels Schneider and Thierry Lhermitte carry the top of the cast.
11IMDB entry: tt35856133 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Pierre Cottereau
Original score: Théo Cascio
Editing: Rehman Nizar Ali
Production design: Benoît Barouh
Makeup / hair: Mathilde Badoul
VFX supervisor: Pierre Buffin
Sound: Aymeric Devoldère
Runtime: 159 min · 2h 39m
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $13,764,497
Return: 55% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): TP
IMDB: De Gaulle: Liberté (2026)

Part of

La Bataille de Gaulle (Collection)

A two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.

Also by

Antonin Baudry

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-09-23
★ 7/10
With Darlan having been assassinated, and with the Nazis now firmly in control of Paris, Charles De Gaulle (Simon Abkarian) is operating out of a London in which he feels increasingly sidelined and imprisoned. Churchill (Sir Simon Russell Beale) is trying to coax him down a more acquiescing path with new military leader General Giraud (Thierry Lhermitte) whilst the distant President Roosevelt (Campbell Scott) is determined to see him marginalised. His only really allies are "Rex" (Félix Kysyl) who treads a very precarious line at home liaising with the resistance and the recently promoted General Leclerc (Niels Schneider) who is leading a small but courageous Free French force in Africa. De Gaulle is now fighting on multiple fronts against allies who don't trust him an against his own countrymen whose officially recognised government sees no role for him at all. His challenge is now to insert himself into the politics and logistics of the forthcoming Normandy landings and to ensure that whatever emerges once the enemy has been driven out is still, proudly, French. Whilst I didn't enjoy this so much as the first part of this biopic of this ultimate patriot, it does quite interestingly challenge some of the established truths about the nature of the allies and about the relationships between the USA, the UK and France. The former is quite uncharacteristically vilified, with Roosevelt being portrayed as a man seeing France as defeated, humiliated and ripe for a sort of latter-day "protectorate" whilst treating Churchill as something more akin to a pet than an ally. He holds most of the cards and he knows it, sort of thing. Sir Simon's Churchill doesn't feature so much here either, and I felt the film missed some of the dynamism of the friend/foe confrontations between him and his independently-minded French counterpart, especially as he began to look more like an American poodle than an inspiring leader. Abkarian, though, successfully builds on his established characterisation and though never exactly likeable, he presents us with a plausible depiction of a soldier determined to stick to his guns - even when he has precious few - and avoid complicity with those he sees as the surrender merchants who brought his country to it's knees. It's not all focussed on the committee rooms, though, and Schneider delivers quite convincingly as the only general France has that is actually doing any fighting, and the combat scenarios in the desert against Rommel and his tanks are convincingly presented. Kysyl is a little underused to illustrate the dangerous work being carried out at home, but he still gives us a plausible indication of the difficulties faced trying to galvanise the parliamentarians into taking an unified stance in the face of their own fears and self-imposed dogmatic differences - all against a threatening backdrop of Gestapo ruthlessness. By the end, I reckon that less actually happened with this instalment and I did wonder if it could have been more readily abridged into the earlier edition without compromising too much of the innovative take on his history, and with this sequel focussing more on his post-war achievements? It's still a compelling watch that comes from a perspective rarely seen in the English-speaking world, and with big screen photography and an eye for the detail in both production design and personality, proves to be quite provocative.

Production companies