Written by Ladj Ly, Giordano Gederlini and Alexis Manenti
Directed by Ladj Ly
Starring Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti and Djibril Zonga
MPAA rating: R for language throughout, some disturbing/violent content, and sexual references
Running time: 1 hour and 44 minutes

by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy

Sadly, this film may suffer some blowback because France chose it over Portrait of a Lady on Fire as its Oscar submission this year. And while I love Portrait, I can understand why they chose this instead. While Portrait’s story is timeless and could take place anywhere, Ladj Ly’s feature debut, Les Misérables, is urgent and (while you can translate the events to many places) very much a story about France, the suburbs of Paris and, specifically, Montfermeil (where Victor Hugo wrote the novel of the same name).