Reviewing and recommending a film in French
A useful review gives someone reasons to choose, rather than a list of praise words. Introduce the subject without revealing the ending, name what you judged, compare the same feature when useful, and keep a reservation alongside your recommendation. Here you review two imaginary films for a friend who has seen neither.
Recover the tools you need
Ce qui introduces ‘what’ when that element does the action in the following clause. Toutefois means ‘however’ and adds a contrasting limit. A comparison needs a shared feature, not just two unrelated opinions. You will recover these tools here, even if you have not studied their earlier lessons. The films called premier and deuxième are simply the first and second films being compared, not a film and its sequel.
A small set of useful words
Un critère is a basis for judging: for example, the use of sound. L'intrigue is the plot, the connected events of the story. Plaire à quelqu'un means to be pleasing to someone: the thing is the subject, and the person is introduced by à or an indirect-object pronoun. Here, me becomes m' before a vowel. Also keep la musique (music), les silences (silent pauses), bruyant/bruyante (noisy) and la place (the space or importance given to something). These are enough for this review; you do not need a catalogue of adjectives.
Subject, reaction, recommendation
Listen to this short review. Montre means ‘shows’, deux amis means ‘two friends’ and une ville means ‘a city’. The first sentence gives the subject without explaining what eventually happens. The second identifies an artistic choice the speaker liked: the space given to silent pauses. The third gives a recommendation for the plot while retaining a criticism of the music.
A synopsis selects the starting situation and topic. Avoid the ending, the solution to a mystery or a decisive twist. A review may say that the plot is a strength without retelling it. Pour l'intrigue gives the reason; malgré la musique bruyante means ‘despite the noisy music’.
Ce film montre deux amis dans une ville.
Ce qui m'a plu, c'est la place des silences.
Je recommande ce film pour l'intrigue, malgré la musique bruyante.
I recommend this film for the plot, despite the noisy music.
Name what made the positive impression
Ce qui m'a plu, c'est… means ‘What I liked was…’. In the first clause, ce qui is the subject of a plu; m' identifies the person who liked it. After c'est comes the feature you want to highlight. This is not a word-for-word copy of ‘I liked’: the French subject is what pleased you.
Plaire forms its completed past here with avoir: a plu, or ont plu when the subject is plural. Compare ce qui m'a plu with les silences m'ont plu. With aimer, the person is the subject instead: j'ai moins aimé la musique means ‘I liked the music less’. Both constructions describe a reaction, not a fact that everyone must agree with. The final example replaces the feature with l'intrigue and identifies the first film.
Ce qui m'a plu, c'est le point apprécié
Ce qui m'a plu, c'est la place des silences.
Les silences m'ont plu, mais j'ai moins aimé la musique.
Ce qui m'a plu dans le premier film, c'est l'intrigue.
Compare one feature and qualify your judgement
Le deuxième film a moins de musique que le premier compares the amount of music: moins de + noun + que. The first film is named as the reference point, and le premier avoids repeating film. Less music is an observation; whether that is better depends on the listener's tastes and your stated criterion. Do not turn it into a claim about acting or plot.
Toutefois introduces your reservation. J'ai trouvé la musique bruyante means ‘I found the music noisy’: trouver here expresses an evaluation, not finding a lost object. Bruyante agrees with feminine musique. The recommendation then preserves both sides: a strength, pour l'intrigue, and a drawback, malgré + noun group. You can recommend a film without pretending it is flawless.
Le deuxième film a moins de musique que le premier.
Toutefois, dans le premier film, j'ai trouvé la musique bruyante.
Je recommande ce film pour l'intrigue, malgré la musique bruyante.
I recommend this film for the plot, despite the noisy music.
Recognize a critic’s expression
For recognition only: la mise en scène means the choices of direction and staging that shape how the film is presented; sobre means restrained or understated, without showy effects. The example says that the direction is understated. It does not prove that the plot is good or that you must like the film. Understand it when reading a review; you are not asked to use this specialist expression in your own review.
La mise en scène est sobre.
Write your short review for a friend
You have seen the two imaginary films; your friend has seen neither. Use only these supplied facts and opinions: the first shows two friends in a city; you liked its plot; the second contains less music than the first; you found the first film's music noisy; you nevertheless recommend the first for its plot. Say, in your own voice, ‘This film shows two friends in a city’; ‘What I liked in the first film was the plot’; ‘The second film has less music than the first’; ‘However, in the first film, I found the music noisy’; ‘I recommend this film for the plot, despite the noisy music’.
Keep that order, do not invent an ending, and keep the noisy-music reservation about the first film. Try before reading the model answers below, then listen. On a second pass, review a film you know using the same operations and your own honest criteria, rather than copying the fictional facts.
Ce film montre deux amis dans une ville.
Ce qui m'a plu dans le premier film, c'est l'intrigue.
Le deuxième film a moins de musique que le premier.
Toutefois, dans le premier film, j'ai trouvé la musique bruyante.
Je recommande ce film pour l'intrigue, malgré la musique bruyante.
I recommend this film for the plot, despite the noisy music.
Check whether your recommendation is useful
Can your reader tell what the film is about without learning its ending? Have you named a feature and your response to it? Does your comparison concern the same feature in both films? Does your reservation remain visible in the recommendation? Ce qui m'a plu highlights a positive feature; toutefois opens a limit; malgré + noun group keeps that limit inside the recommendation. These tools organize your judgement; they do not make it universal.