Julia is a 2008 French crime drama film, directed by Erick Zonca, starring Tilda Swinton. It was shot in California and Mexico. The film was inspired by the John Cassavetes film Gloria.

In California, an alcoholic named Julia (Tilda Swinton) is out of control, partying every night, and waking up in unknown homes with no memory of the previous night. Her reckless behavior costs her her job and she begins to go broke. She soon meets a mother, Elena (Kate del Castillo), at an AA meeting. Elena takes Julia into her apartment after finding her passed out on the pavement one night. The following morning Elena explains that she wants to kidnap her son Tom (Aidan Gould) from his wealthy grandfather and asks Julia to participate for $50,000. Julia declines, but after some time changes her mind. She visits an old friend to ask for his cooperation, but her offer is refused. She rides to the Mexican border, kidnaps the little boy and blackmails Elena's father-in-law for $2 million. The police discover her whereabouts and she flees, accidentally crashing her car through the wall dividing United States and Mexico. There, the boy is kidnapped in turn by Mexican kidnappers. Her friend Mitch (Saul Rubinek) arrives in Mexico and gives Julia the ransom money. During the exchange, the Mexican kidnappers escape with the money, leaving the boy safely with Julia.

Julia is a feminine given name.

Julia may also refer to:

This is a list of all major films made in 2008.

These are the top grossing films that were released in 2008. The top ten films of 2008, by worldwide gross in $USD, as well as the US & Canada, UK, and Australia grosses, are as follows:

These numbers are taken from Box Office Mojo, including their "Yearly Box Office Results".

On August 4, The Dark Knight reached a $400 million domestic gross in a record time of 18 days. The previous record was held by Shrek 2, which reached it in 43 days. On August 31, after 45 days in release, The Dark Knight reached $500 million domestically, becoming only the second film in history after Titanic to cross the half-billion-dollar domestic milestone, as well as the only film of the 2000s decade. For 2008, the top ten films consisted of three superhero films, three animated films, three action films and one musical film. Mamma Mia! became the highest grossing film in UK history until it was surpassed by Avatar in 2010. In the domestic box office, 2008 came very close in passing 2007 as the highest grossing year, falling short by just $30 million.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.

Erick Zonca (born September 10, 1956, in Orléans, France) is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

His first films were the shorts Rives (1992), Eternelles (1995), and Seule (1997). Zonca's second feature was Le Petit Voleur (The Little Thief) (1999). His most recent, Julia (2008), based on John Cassavetes' 1980 movie Gloria, starred Tilda Swinton and was shot in California and Mexico.