Athena
2022
****
Director: Romain Gavras
Cast: Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti, Karim Lasmi, Mehdi Abdelhakmi, Tarek Haddaji, Guy Donald Koukissa, Armindo Alves de Sa, Sophie-Marie Larrouy, Birane Ba, Radostina Rogliano
When a 13-year-old Algerian-French boy dies at the hands of three policemen, an all-out war erupts between the police and the immigrant community in the Athena housing estate in Paris. The boy's three older brothers all react differently to the tragedy. This intense, adrenaline-fuelled French action drama kicks off a with a breathtaking opening sequence that appears to unfold in a single, continuous 10-minute shot. It begins with a tight close-up of the murdered boy's brother's face and ends up across town in Athena, where riots are breaking out. Romain Gavras employs the same kinetic camerawork, albeit with a few more cuts, throughout the rest of the film. The result is a gripping watch, even if its thought-provoking story doesn't quite match the ambition of its visuals.
