An incendiary indictment of how racist housing policies imperil the vulnerable, Ladj Ly’s angry follow up to Les Misérables (2019) dramatises some of the most divisive social issues of our time. When the mayor of an underprivileged Parisian suburb suddenly dies, Pierre (Alexis Manenti), an idealistic young doctor, is appointed to replace him. He intends to continue the policy of his predecessor, who dreamed of rehabilitating this working class neighbourhood. Haby (Anta Diaw), a young French woman of Malian origin living in one of the dilapidated tower blocks, refuses to see her family being driven out of the neighbourhood where she grew up.

Notes by David O’Mahony

Screening as part of the IFI French Film Festival, November 15 – 26.