Abbas Kiarostami’s first feature made outside his native Iran is this sumptuous, brain-teasing romance, in which a deceptively simple relationship morphs into something more complex—and keeps the audience guessing. Cannes winner Juliette Binoche is enigmatic, vulnerable and perfect in the lead role.

Christophe Honoré returns to his timeless themes of family, mortality, and sexuality in a gay coming-of-age story imbued with breathtaking poignancy. As a teenager trying to make sense of grief, newcomer Paul Kircher is devastatingly good—and shares the screen with none other than Juliette Binoche.

Olivier Assayas directed Kristen Stewart to a history-making César Award win in Clouds of Sils Maria, but it’s La Binoche who really steals the show: on career-best form as the fading star at the slippery center of this Bergmanesque tale of dualities, mirror reflections, and brooding power dynamics.

A Claire Denis romcom? We’re sold! Subverting fairytale tropes with fine irony, this wonderfully unpredictable take on middle-age female desire and the volatility of emotions stars an exquisitely mercurial Juliette Binoche—searching for love, encountering mostly disappointment. Oh, and that ending!

For the second feature to be shot outside of his native Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien ventured to Paris for this lyrical masterpiece. Starring Juliette Binoche, and captured in swooning tracking shots by cinematographer Lee Ping Bing, The Flight of the Red Balloon is a work of warm and delicate wonder.