With *The Father*, Zeller had achieved something quite extraordinary: transforming a French play into a genuine Hollywood sensation. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, Anthony Hopkins won the award for Best Actor, and Florian Zeller, alongside Christopher Hampton, won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In other words, for once a Frenchman has managed to speak to the whole world without having to apologise for being ambitious, let’s give him a round of applause.
And *Bunker*, his third feature film, confirms this international scope. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2026, stars Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, alongside Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger. It is shot in English and Spanish and is officially a co-production between France and Spain.
So much for the good news.
But there may be another, slightly more troubling piece of news lurking behind it.
Where are the French actors?
There are none in the announced main cast of *Bunker*. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are Spanish, Stephen Graham is British, and Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger are American.
This is obviously no scandal. And it would be absurd to demand that Florian Zeller adhere to some sort of French quota. A director must choose the actors of his dreams – those who fit his characters, his world and the film’s budget.
But the question is still worth asking.
Because the paradox is quite fascinating: we have a French filmmaker, with a background in French theatre, who writes and directs films largely produced with French money and by French companies – Pathé Films, France 2 Cinéma and Mediawan are notably among the organisations associated with *Bunker* – yet French actors have all but disappeared from the screen.
And that is perhaps a shame.
Not because Javier Bardem should be replaced by a Frenchman or Penélope Cruz by a Frenchwoman. That would be ridiculous. They are, in fact, one of the great strengths and one of the very reasons for Bunker’s existence. But why not imagine, alongside them, some of the immense talents that French cinema has to offer?
France certainly isn’t short of actors capable of starring in an international film in English. Quite the contrary. This blend could even prove fascinating: retaining that Hollywood and European ambition whilst bringing French faces into this world.
Because the real luxury today is perhaps no longer to produce ‘French’ films on the one hand and ‘international’ films on the other. It is to blend the two.
It’s about imagining Bardem opposite a French actor. Penélope Cruz sharing the screen with a Frenchwoman. Actors from Paris, London, Madrid or Los Angeles brought together in the same film without anyone questioning what nationality the film should have.
Florian Zeller has already crossed the most difficult boundary: the one that often separates French filmmakers from the world of major international cinema.
It would be rather lovely if, now that he has made it to the other side, he were to leave the door open behind him from time to time.
So let us rejoice at seeing Florian Zeller succeed in Hollywood, London, Madrid, Venice or elsewhere. Let us even wish him to go much further still.
But let us also dream that one day, amongst all these big international names, a great French name will once again emerge.
Not out of patriotism. Simply because we have plenty of them in store.
