The Freshmen

The Freshmen (Première année, 2018) is a French drama-comedy directed by Thomas Lilti — watch it online on iFILM. Antoine is attempting the medical school entrance exam for the third year running. Benjamin is fresh out of high school and still thinks hard work will be enough. They end up studying together, which turns out to be the most useful and most complicated decision either of them makes.

Getting through the first year of medicine in France means surviving a brutal ranking system where a single bad week can cost you everything. Hundreds of hours of study, no social life to speak of, and a cut-off that eliminates the vast majority of candidates. Lilti — a former doctor — knows this world from the inside, and the film earns its tension through accumulated detail rather than melodrama.

Vincent Lacoste and William Lebghil carry the film entirely on their chemistry: two very different personalities grinding through the same impossible year. Stream The Freshmen online on iFILM.