Why a 2019 French thriller shares its name with a 19th-century literary classic

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Ladj Ly’s 2019 film Les Misérables is not a period drama, but a visceral crime thriller set in modern-day Montfermeil. By echoing Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, the film draws a direct line between the systemic neglect of the poor in the 19th century and the explosive tensions of today’s French suburbs.

The film, which marked Ladj Ly’s feature directorial debut, is rooted in a real-life incident of police violence Ly witnessed in 2008. Set in the aftermath of France’s 2018 FIFA World Cup victory—a moment initially celebrated as a triumph of national unity—the narrative follows three officers in an anti-crime brigade. Their patrol in Montfermeil descends into chaos after a teenager named Issa steals a lion cub, triggering a series of events that expose the deep-seated abuses of power and the fragile social order within the commune.

The title serves as a deliberate homage to Victor Hugo, who wrote his seminal novel while living in Montfermeil. Just as Hugo’s characters struggled against the crushing weight of poverty and societal indifference, Ly’s film depicts the ongoing marginalization of teenagers from sub-Saharan African or Maghrebi backgrounds. The film’s climax, which leaves the audience with a quote from Hugo about the absence of bad humans—only bad cultivators—underscores the director’s argument that the current crisis is a failure of social stewardship rather than an inherent flaw in the people themselves.

The film’s impact extended far beyond the cinema. It won the Jury Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and earned a nomination for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Its portrayal of the banlieues was so striking that it reportedly unsettled President Emmanuel Macron, prompting calls for urgent government action to improve living conditions. While some politicians, such as Valérie Pécresse, praised the film for highlighting the need for a long-term strategy to dismantle ghettoized neighborhoods, others, like Jacques Dion, criticized the government for ignoring previously proposed solutions like the Borloo plan.

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