Polisse
Inside a Paris child-protection unit.
Directed by Maïwenn
(Not rated)
***
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This “gripping” French police drama “plows through some harsh, horrifying realities with unflinching sobriety,” said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. Actress and filmmaker Maïwenn plays a wealthy photographer who embeds with a child-protection unit in Paris to witness its battles against the foulest crimes, including child abuse, rape, and prostitution. As a director, Maïwenn employs a “rough, ragged narrative structure and a correspondingly hectic visual style” to make her fictional chronicle “feel less dramatized than witnessed.” The movie “leaps from one crisis to another with an attention-deficit alacrity that occasionally borders on absurdity,” said Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal. “But what makes it such a singular experience is the convergence of fine acting, moral urgency, and a willingness to linger on moments of great intensity.” Not every story line works, but “the movie as a whole gets under your skin,” said Sheri Linden in the Los Angeles Times. Certain scenes, as well as the dogged justice-seeking central characters, “resonate long after the screen goes dark.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'"Andor" examines all sides of how empires operate'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eatery
Speed Read Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she dined with family at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant money
Speed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
By Peter Weber, The Week US