Les Misérables

On his very first assignment, police officer Stéphane is immediately introduced to the brutal reality of Paris’ Banlieu. In order to be closer to his son, the newcomer has moved from the serenity of Normandy to Montfermeil, a suburb of the French capital. With their crude way of conducting business, his two new colleagues Chris and Gwada are not much better than the infamous street youths. Stéphane attempts to counteract the roughness of their moral convictions, but his well-intentioned efforts collide with social tensions and vanish in the haze of a youth versus police battle. The threat of escalation is imminent after a failed intervention by his patrol leader Chris. Director Ladj Ly’s explosive portrait of the social tensions in a Parisian suburb was one of the big highlights at this year’s Cannes.