Les Misérables
Directed by Ladj Ly
- crime
- drama
- thriller
The story
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.
What it’s like
Restless handheld camera in cramped apartment blocks and concrete estates, the grey-green light of overcast Parisian suburbs mixed with the warm glow of street lamps and crowded interiors, and a grainy digital texture that feels like footage you were not supposed to see. Long tracking shots follow men through corridors and across housing-estate courtyards, while a drone's hovering eye adds an unsettling watchfulness. The score is sparse and tense, with pulsing low tones that rise under the rising pressure. Its vibe is anxious, grimy and urgent, best suited to a focused evening rather than casual viewing. The pacing builds steadily toward a violent climax, and the emotional register is raw and morally uneasy, following a young officer who must decide where his loyalties lie. Intensity is high: frequent street-level confrontations, a tense police arrest, and brief but brutal violence, with real menace and some graphic injury rather than stylised gore. For viewers who want gritty social realism, sharp moral tension and a hard-edged look at urban life, not gentle or comforting viewing.
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