What age is The Freshmen (Première année) appropriate for?

10 alone, 9 with a parent; 10 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is The Freshmen (Première année) not recommended under 10?

What's in it: pressure that makes you ill; student swearing; a dissection corpse. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

The Freshmen (Première année): what age is it for? 10 alone, 9 with a parent

10 alone, 9 with a parent.

Movie · 2018 · 1 h 32 · comedy, drama

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

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not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralonethe sweet spot

Alone from 10; from 9, with an adult or by talking about it afterwards.

The sweet spot: around 15-17, when you are nearing the choices about your studies, and wonder what a competitive exam costs. Why a sweet spot?

In France, zinema would say 10.

Watch the trailerContinue in zinemathen where to watch it, in zinema · more trailers, and where to watch films · Where to stream itWhere to watch

What it's about

Antoine is about to start his first year of medical school… for the third time. Benjamin, just out of high school, will make his first try. He soon realizes it's not exactly a walk in the park. In a fiercely competitive environment, with nights dedicated to hard studying rather than hard partying, the two freshmen will have to adapt and find a middle ground between despair for the present and hope for the future.

Why 10

Pressure that makes you illSleepless nights, anxiety attacks, a student who vomits before the exam, another who breaks down in front of his family; competition between friends becomes betrayal. Tears, few shouts.
Student swearingAbout twenty swear words in French, insults born of exhaustion; a drunken party, a few cigarettes.
A dissection corpseA dissection class at the faculty, filmed soberly; a brief fight between students. Nothing bloody.

What the movie brings

What the first year of medical school really is: the exam, the selection, the price for those who fail.
Two friends, one gifted and one hard-working, and the question of what is fair.
A film by Thomas Lilti, a doctor, who knows what he is talking about.

Watching it together

Before

The film speaks to high-schoolers more than to children; say beforehand that one of the two fails.

After

at 10 and up

Antoine helps Benjamin, who succeeds without effort: should you help someone who will overtake you?

See the facts

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For the same age, on zinema

Les Parfait(s) : Arnaques en famille 10, 9 with a parent
Masterplan 17
Blücher 11, 10 with a parent
Le Château dans le ciel 11, 10 with a parent

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A zinema reading from September 20, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made