Presidents, the political comedy from director Anne Fontaine, lands on Netflix on July 7, 2026. Released in French theaters on June 30, 2021, the film brings together Jean Dujardin, Grégory Gadebois, Doria Tillier and Pascale Arbillot in a fiction loosely inspired by two former French presidents.
Presidents
Film | 2021
Available on Netflix on July 7, 2026
Comedy | Running time: 1h40
Directed by Anne Fontaine | Starring Jean Dujardin, Grégory Gadebois, Doria Tillier, Pascale Arbillot
Country: France
In Présidents, Nicolas, a former President of the Republic, struggles with the end of his political career. When the chance to return to the public eye arises, he realises he can’t do it alone. He then travels to Corrèze to persuade François, another former president now retired to the countryside, to team up with him.
The film builds its comedy around this unlikely political pairing, with unflagging ambition, thwarted retirement and barely concealed rivalries. As Nicolas pursues a comeback to his public profile, François gradually gets swept into the game, until their respective partners also enter the fray in this fictional electoral saga.
Anne Fontaine brings to the screen here a comedy that isn’t framed as a biopic but as a political fable about life after power. Jean Dujardin and Grégory Gadebois inhabit two characters inspired by prominent figures in French politics, without directly using their surnames or aiming for strict impersonation.
Présidents could appeal to audiences craving a French political comedy rooted in today’s news, anchored by a two-hander at the heart of the story. The film isn’t aimed at viewers who want a realistic institutional satire or a documentary-style narrative; the plot leans toward whimsy, punchy dialogue, and the tension between former power and the urge to make a comeback.
The official trailer for Présidents presents the meeting between Nicolas and François, two former heads of state imagined by Anne Fontaine in a comedy about life after power.
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