Our take
Winner of a Camera d’Or, the debutant’s prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Director Houda Benyamina’s first feature film is fast-paced and full of energy. Deep in the impoverished suburbs of Paris, the infamous banlieues, it tells the story of Dounia (played by Oulaya Amamra), a mouthy teenager who is not content with what society is prepared to hand out to her. She’s angry; she wants more. And so, together with her best friend Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena), she decides to finally make some cash as a runner for a drug dealer. While there’s obviously some feminism in there somewhere, that’s not at the heart of what this film is about. It’s about the economic reality in a world of poverty and about two friends and their desire for freedom—no matter what the cost. An exhilarating and thought-provoking debut helped along by Amamra’s amazing acting.
What it won
Cannes
1 win · 2 noms
Golden Globes
1 nom
César Awards
3 wins · 4 noms
The story
In a ghetto where religion and drug trafficking rub shoulders, Dounia has a lust for power and success. Supported by Maimouna, her best friend, she decides to follow in the footsteps of Rebecca, a respected dealer. But her encounter with Djigui, a young, disturbingly sensual dancer, throws her off course.
Elsewhere
"From the opening credits -- a grainy breakneck tour of the lives of two teenage girls who lark about, posing and dancing via vertical-aspect cameraphone footage, I had a suspicion we were onto something special."
— Isabel Stevens
"A heavenly cast coming-of-age story that's told with real consequences."
— David Ehrlich
The details
Who picked it
Ashley Mantha-Hollands is a contributing writer at A Good Movie to Watch, with a background in academic research that informs her cultural and thematic reading of films and shows.
If you wanna be amazed by a bad-a** character (and actor!) in the title role, this is your movie. I felt so there with them as this story unfolded and cared about them alot!! Oulaya Amamra is literally someone who you both love and then don’t ever want to have her be upset with you! Such energy and emotion. I highly recommend this movie.
from 8 to 10/10