A Prophet doesn't beat around the bush; with this film, the idea is to show what it really might be like in prison as protagonist Malik goes through a transformation across the span of this highly-acclaimed French drama. When he first gets put away, after all, he's young and clueless. When the film is over, he has assumed a great amount of power. A Prophet is an endlessly gripping and brutal filmmaking experience that refuses to pull any punches. Every single minute of this flick will have you feeling slightly on edge - presumably this mirrors the way that the prisoners on the inside feel on a daily basis. At first, the film presents itself as a competent but otherwise standard prison flick (there's the sense that you've seen all of its tropes handled in other films). Soon enough, however, A Prophet reveals itself to be so much more than that: it's the story of a man who remakes himself from the ground up, and it's utterly riveting to watch for all its 155 minutes. It also works as an intriguing and interesting exploration on the subject of race.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
