A Prophet - Jacques Audiard
This prison drama follows Malik, Tahar Rahim (Batman Unburied & Bref), after his incarceration. The prison scenes are hauntingly real.
Everything that happens in the jail is just so believable – not that I have any metric to judge the reality of the situation on.
We follow Malik as he tries to learn the ropes. He becomes vital to a powerful group in the prison.
He uses this to his advantage, not becoming one of them but using his position to push for more. He ends up with his fingers in every pie in the jail as a powerful tale of betrayal unfolds.
Malik is forced to kill a man early on, and he follows Malik around throughout the film. Malik is haunted, but the man is also real to him; he talks to him.
The reality of the haunting is so terrifying because of how mundane it is. It really reminded me a lot of the very similar dream Riley has in Midnight Mass of his car crash victim.
Another big draw card for me was how the plot progresses so rapidly. All the ins and outs of what is about to happen are laid out for Malik and for us.
So we know what should happen in the coming scene – or at least what Malik’s goals are. But he might do something completely different, and we get to see why as it happens
This is just great storytelling. I’ve never seen it pulled off so well. It reminds me a lot of Guy Ritchie’s early work, but in those films, you still aren’t in on it in the same way you are here.
The story is really grounded in the reality that they are all in prison, whoever they are. A big win for Malik is getting a CD player and a conjugal visit from a prostitute.
There is a filmic device used to represent either Malik’s poor eyesight or his visions.
The lens telescopes in, and we are left with blurry vision surrounded by darkness. As far as I can remember, this only happens twice during the film.
One of these occurrences is confirmed as a vision as we see it play out, and it is how he gets his nickname.
The other just looks like he has bad eyesight. I found this really confusing, so I’m glad that it was only used twice.
I would recommend this film for anyone who loves being in the know about what is coming next in a film, but is equally happy to have their expectations met unexpectedly.
It’s also worth a watch if you want to see the most real jail life I have seen.
