Streaming, TV: What do we watch in November?

The hours spent scrolling through your streaming platforms’ catalog while dinner cools down? It’s terminado. Do It In Paris makes life easier for you with a hand-picked selection of the best film releases in November on MyCanal, OCS, Arte, Netflix, and France.TV. Are you comfortable? Let’s go!

Imagine a world where each year you risk being called to a televised fight to the death in an arena: The Hunger Games. The Capitol, the metropolis centralizing all the country’s power and luxury, is crazy about this reality TV show that keeps the districts under submission. The principle? Snatch one boy and one girl from each of the country’s 12 districts and force them to kill each other until only one is left. When her little sister is drawn to die in front of the cameras, Katniss volunteers to replace her. But her temperament, forged in survivalism and rebellion, doesn’t help her. On the contrary, she alienates the Games’ production as she becomes the symbol of the uprising brewing among the poor districts… all from within the arena, where death lurks at every turn.

Why we loved it. The saga by Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence is a true icon of 2010s dystopian fiction. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson captivate in their roles as teenagers crushed by the oppressive system they live in. The violence of the Games concept and the tributes’ struggle to survive is a real shock for the viewer. The worst part? The Capitol, which hoards all the wealth, with its residents’ ridiculous clothing and opulent parties, bears an uncanny resemblance to our current world…

The complete Hunger Games, from October 30 on Cine+ OCS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfmrPu43DF8
© 2014 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc.

At Auschwitz, commander Rudolf Höss lives with his family in a lovely house with a large garden, right on the edge of the extermination camp. He regularly takes his children on boat outings and swims, while his wife tends the garden and oversees the servants, some of whom are prisoners of the camp. Their days are punctuated by the screams of detainees, soldiers’ gunshots, dogs barking, trains whistling, and machines feeding the camp’s ovens. How can they live in such close proximity to Death?

Why we loved it. Jonathan Glazer, known for his Radiohead music videos, graced our big screens with a true masterpiece in 2023. The Zone of Interest is an incredibly impactful film: it points out the massive hypocrisy of World War II. Indeed, only a few dozen meters separate a bucolic, pleasant family life from the most efficient death camp of the Holocaust. If you loved The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for the truth of its story, you’ll adore The Zone of Interest and what the work tells us about this terrible episode in human history: the utterly normal and even pleasant lives of the worst Nazi criminals. This totally riveting film even won the Oscar for Best International Film and Oscar for Best Sound in 2024.

The Zone of Interest, from November 5 on MyCanal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vfg3KkV54
© Courtesy of A24

Malcolm Washington delivers a family and historical drama adapted from August Wilson’s famous play. Post-Great Depression America is the setting of this story that narrates the family tragedy of the Charles clan. In Pennsylvania, this family lives comfortably alongside their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson). Their most precious item: a piano decorated with carvings that tell the story of an enslaved ancestor. The older brother (John David Washington) wants to sell it for financial freedom and security, but the sister (Danielle Deadwyler) refuses, in the name of the sacredness of the heirloom left to them. The Charles family is torn apart, between the desire to be free of a painful past and the need to preserve their family’s history.

Why we loved it. Produced by the iconic Denzel Washington (Oscar for Best Actor 2021), The Piano Lesson offers real reflection on collective memory and the notion of heritage. Since the tragic events that gave birth to the Black Lives Matter movement, the question of the African-American community’s sociocultural heritage has been more present, especially in the media. Between forgetting to make room for the future and a perpetual return to the past, there may be a middle ground: that’s the work of memory. The best part? Malcolm Washington’s casting is 100% racially diverse, truly giving body to the story.

The Piano Lesson, from November 22 on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZwjt0pjt8w
© Brian Douglas - Netflix

Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is 17. She wants desperately to leave her town of Sacramento to live the student life she dreams of on the other U.S. coast, in New York. More than dreaming of Manhattan, she wants a good distance between her and her family, especially her mother, loving but also very strict and strong-willed… Lady Bird is a young woman with the worries of her age: heartbreak, falling out with friends, strong political opinions, and rejection of her parental figures. The problem that obstructs Lady Bird’s quest for freedom and individuality is that her family’s finances are at an all-time low since her father lost his job. To make matters worse: Christine’s academic performance is downright shaky.

Why we loved it. The iconic Greta Gerwig (Barbie, Little Women) nails it again. She depicts teenage issues with great accuracy. Gone are the teens who look 28 and find love in an hour and a half. Lady Bird struggles, like most of us: she’s completely average. Her grades, style, flings: mid-level. Despite a difficult-to-live-through and watch family story, Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan bring to life a touching story in which everyone can recognize themselves at some point. Lady Bird is a true girlboss inspiration: we love the scene of her hyper-feminist speech in front of her conservative school assembly!

Lady Bird, from November 2 on France TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo
© 2017 - Interactivecorps Film, LLC.

Since childhood, Maria Fitzgerald O'Malley has bravely supported her father, an Irish activist fiercely opposed to the British Empire. An expert in sabotage, she plants booby-trapped apple baskets and blows up bridges controlled by royal troops, following her father in endless flight. She flees from Dublin to London, then to Gibraltar. Chased by the English, the father-daughter duo eventually reaches Central America, but, unlucky, her father dies almost immediately. Now a lone woman, Maria finds refuge in the trailer of a traveling circus, where she is taken in by a music-hall artist. The twist? Her protector is also named Maria! To survive, the young orphaned terrorist joins Maria #2 on stage in a number that makes the male audience drool. But they are quickly drawn into a peasant revolt (to the anti-royalist’s great pleasure). This uprising is led by a young revolutionary… whom they both fall in love with!

Why we loved it. In the mid-1960s, still basking in the critical success of his early films, from Elevator to the Gallows to Zazie in the Metro, Louis Malle flew to Mexico to make an action comedy. He brought together two absolute icons of French cinema at the time, the stunning Jeanne Moreau and a wild Brigitte Bardot, for an explosive and riveting adventure. In this film, their characters, transported to the early 20th century, find themselves plunged into a peasant uprising. Who doesn’t love seeing glamorous dames in queen mode participate in a revolt? Special mention for the few sung scenes by the star duo, whose tunes have largely entered popular repertoire.

Viva Maria!, from November 4 on Arte TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6-nQ14u-Po
© Gaumont 2013