Les Gens d'à côté

An intimate drama set against the backdrop of the yellow jackets ("jill et john") demonstrations ; the heroine's partner committed suicide , a tragedy which often happens in today's police nowadays ......

Herself a police woman ,Lucie does not know where she stands anymore ; her boss suggests she take a break ; her brother-in-law ,a colleague, tries to use her as an informer......she has a ringside seat .....

......because her new friends are on probation ;this is a weird but endearing friendship between a cop and a couple with daughter ,Rose .Yann is the man with the child in his eyes, a grown up kid ;an artist and an activist , he's also very naive because his way to change the world is as old as the hills and endangers his family ; it's interesting to notice that Lucie conceals her occupation, as though she was ashamed of it (although in the past she worked with the homeless, much to her credit);Hasfia Herzi is true to form as usual ,but it's hard to believe that,in that context,she's a teacher .The fact that Lucie's late husband and his brother ,who came from Africa when they were children belong to the well-assimilated populations (whom they protect at that!) whereas Yann lives on the fringes of society is not derivative ;and Lucie's attitude ,when she eventually helps him at her great expense , makes her a rebel against the power-that-be too .Since, the ghost of her departed love has stopped visiting her. That means a lot.

The story is more a fable than a realistic story ,and the last pictures verge on melodrama ,but the relationship between a widow and an unconventional family remains very interesting .