Les Misérables (2019)

No, not that one. This is a hard hitting Parisian drama, set in the aftermath of the French World Cup win in 2018. It's an impressive mash of The Wire (the greatest TV show ever made, not sure I've mentioned that before) End Of Watch (2012) and La Haine (1995). A cop, Laurent, has just moved to Paris from the provinces, joining a police crime squad, and is given a tour and introduction to the neighbourhood by the other two cops in his team, taking in the local youths from the projects who work for different gangsters in the area. An incident involving the three cops sets in motion a chain of events that affects all strands of society within this small district, in the space of just a couple of days. It's a race against the clock for all of the groups mentioned above, and that's not to dismiss this as your average action thriller. Les Miserables is nothing like that at all, it's an uncompromising, bleak, and frank drama with moments of shocking violence. This is a directorial debut for Ladj Ly, and it really is some inaugural film, showing some serious promise for future offerings. 7.9/10