A Prophet (Un prophète) (2009) (French Language, English subtitled)

Spread the love

155min

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif …and more

Writers: Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard, Abdel Raouf Dafri… more

A Prophet is a gritty and uncompromising drama set in modern day France and tells the story of Malik a young French-Algerian man navigating his way through a tough French prison system and trying to survive amidst tough circumstances.

It is an ultra-realistic view of the politics and power struggles between different religious and criminal factions within the French penal system, it sees Malik struggle from the bottom to the top while dealing with powerful prison groups like the Corsican Mafia and the Muslim brotherhoods.

The film is underpinned by a Bafta nominated standout performance from Tahar Rahim as the main character and is one of the few films from any country which realistically shows how organised crime controls prison operations and exerts influence on the outside world.

A Prophet is not a film for those wanting a light-hearted 90 minute romp but a must see film for those who enjoy a powerful and realistic storyline and great drama, this is surely one of the finest prison films ever made.