Exactly. Most french movies make pennies at the box office and the only reason they exist is because of outrageous financing by the State. Same thing happens in other like minded countries in Europe.
Spain here, can confirm. Some producers even fake the mandatory movie screening that they need to keep the tax-funded grant. Even the freaking former president of the Spanish Cinema Academy is facing jail time over this: http://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2017-03-02/la-fiscalia...
An important distinction is that the money does not come out of your paycheck. Instead, they take 10% of what you pay on cinema tickets (including foreign movies).
You could argue that french studios also get tax breaks, but those don't actually fund movies, they just increase profits for movies that are profitable.