Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, a Russian-language drama produced by French companies, will represent France in the best international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards. The selection, announced by the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), was made by a professional jury chaired by film historian Charles Tesson, following an independent process overseen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The film, which won the Grand Prix at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, is produced by MK Productions and CG Cinéma, with German and Latvian co-producers. CNC president Gaëtan Bruel called the choice "a reminder of France's unique role in major global co-productions," noting the high calibre of this year's international competition.
A myth retold against war
Loosely adapted from Claude Chabrol's 1969 classic La femme infidèle, Minotaur traces the disintegration of a marriage against the backdrop of Vladimir Putin's September 2022 mobilisation decree, issued seven months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The protagonist, Gleb, a company head, faces a widening rift with his wife, who has taken a young photographer as a lover. To meet regional recruitment quotas and avoid conscripting Muscovites, Gleb must deliver some of his own employees to the Russian army.
Zvyagintsev, known for his mythic storytelling, draws a parallel between Gleb and Aegeus, the Athenian king who sent seven youths and seven maidens to the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Gleb, like Aegeus, is willing to accept any compromise to preserve his position.
Critical reception and controversy
Essayist Jean-Philippe Domecq, a member of the editorial team of the film journal Positif, praised the selection as "subtle and judicious." He told Euronews he was "deeply and lastingly impressed" by Zvyagintsev's earlier work, particularly Leviathan. "Here, the move to revisit La femme infidèle, multiplying its ambiguity through the context of conscription, creates an immense grey area, the film's dominant colour," he said.
Domecq added that the film is compelling because it "combines French involvement, through its producers, with an aesthetic and a plot that commit to nuance, as does art that does not lecture."
Yet the film has not escaped criticism. When Zvyagintsev accepted the Grand Prix in Cannes, he addressed Putin directly in Russian, urging him to "stop the carnage" without explicitly naming Ukraine or Russia's responsibility for the war. His plea was widely applauded in the West but drew rebukes in Ukraine and among anti-war Russian exiles, who saw the omission as a missed opportunity to assign clear blame.
Release and prospects
Minotaur will open in French cinemas on 14 October, distributed by Les Films du Losange. International sales are handled by MK2 Films, with Mubi releasing the film in the United States. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for 14 March 2027 in Los Angeles.
France's choice underscores its continued prominence in European co-productions, even as its domestic film industry faces broader economic pressures. The selection also highlights the delicate balance of art and politics in a continent still grappling with the consequences of Russia's war, a theme that resonates beyond the cinema.
