The Stronghold

Three BAC officers working the northern districts of Marseille: Grég, Antoine and Yass. A unit that steals drugs to pay informants and breaks rules to get results. One day the machine turns around and the men who thought they were hunting become the accused. Cédric Jimenez directed, with Audrey Diwan among the writers. The film is based on a real case: in 2012 eighteen members of the Marseille anti-crime brigade were indicted for drug trafficking and racketeering. Gilles Lellouche, François Civil and Karim Leklou lead. It screened at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and opened wide in France on 18 August 2021. On a 14 million dollar budget it grossed 18 million worldwide. It set off an argument in France about how it portrays the police. 20 Minutes called it an excellent detective film; Libération found it biased. It took seven César nominations including Best Film and Best Director. Who it is for: viewers who like tense police films and morally muddy characters. Who it is not for: anyone expecting balance. It is told almost entirely from the officers' point of view, and the people of the neighbourhood stay mostly in the background.