Les Misérables (2019)
Film details
Crime · Drama · Thriller · Ladj Ly · 1h 45min
Synopsis
Stéphane has recently joined the Anti-Crime Squad in Montfermeil, in the suburbs of Paris, France, where Victor Hugo set his famed novel “Les Miserables”. Alongside his new colleagues Chris and Gwada – both experienced members of the team – he quickly discovers tensions running high between local gangs. When the trio finds themselves overrun during the course of an arrest, a drone captures the encounter, threatening to expose the reality of everyday life.
Verdict
Gritty portrayal of social tension and police violence in French suburbs.
In-depth analysis
Ladj Ly's film constructs a social thriller that dissects the reality of French suburbs with documentary precision and notable cinematic tension. The central conflict is not merely police-related but anthropological: how distrust, the abuse of power, and marginalization destroy the communal fabric and push ordinary people towards violence. The work avoids facile Manichaeism — the police are not caricature villains, the residents are not passive victims — but neither does it offer genuine hope. Social determinism weighs like a sentence: the environment seems to condemn everyone equally. The direction is tense and effective, the performances credible. The problem lies at its core: the film diagnoses with lucidity but proposes no path forward. The escalation towards the climax suggests that violence is inevitable, almost natural. For parents: this is adult cinema that requires maturity and subsequent conversation. Not suitable for minors. The violence, though not graphic, is real and disturbing. The language is raw. A work that invites debate on justice and responsibility, but one that demands a well-formed discernment to avoid succumbing to the nihilism it conveys.