When I first watched this a few weeks ago, I really wasn’t expecting this to be so good, thinking it to be a Netflix Original, but upon further investigation, I see that they just bought the film, after it was shown at Cannes. I guess “Netflix Original” is a brand, rather than a statement of fact.

I digress…

Director Houda Benyamina’s debut feature, Divines, is a top-notch thriller, immersing the viewer in the ethnic diversity of the suburbs of Paris. Gritty and compassionate. I hate to do the “this” meets “that” thing, but Divines has the intensity of La Haine, Sur les levres, Deepan, A Prophet, and Rosetta, without being derivative of any. Perhaps Benyamina is a devotee of Jacques Audiard, but how could one criticize that?

That gives me an idea for next week…

🙂

More about this film on IMDb