CASE 137
France | 2025 | Dir: Dominik Moll | French with English subs | 122 minutes
Starring Léa Drucker, Yoann Blanc, Guslagie Malanda, Côme Peronnet, Sandra Colombo
Directed by Dominik Moll
In cinemas from 16 October 2026
REVIEW by KATHLEEN BONDAR
Mixing documentary footage with screen drama, Dominic Moll’s film Case 137 brings to life events surrounding the 2018 Gilets Jeunes (Yellow Vests) protests in Paris. The film centres on an investigation into the shooting of a young protester by the French special forces. The film style highlights the country’s reputation for out and out battle on both sides - demonstrators and police alike – harking back to the 1968 student protests. There are scenes of burning vehicles and buildings, barricades, smoke bombs, marauding men in masks, shielded officers in uniform and plain clothed forces bearing arms. The fictional shooting is staged but combined with news footage, the effect is shocking.
Guslagie Malanda (left) and Léa Drucker (centre & right)
Behind all this is the personal story of Stéphanie Bertrand played by Léa Drucker (War of the Worlds) as a diligent police investigator at the IGPN (Inspection générale de la police nationale /General Inspectorate of the National Police), France's internal affairs unit. She is pitted against colleagues involved in the shooting who close ranks to deflect blame and accountability by collective silence.
Meanwhile the injured teenager Guillaume Girard (Côme Peronnet) turns out to come from Stephanie’s hometown, St Dizier, a utilitarian setting defined by administrative buildings and neon-lit supermarkets. “Saint Dizier or anywhere else, it's all the same. Nobody cares about us”, Joëlle Girard (Sandra Colombo) the mother of the Girard family says.
The contrast to the elegant, fin de siècle hotels and iconic landmarks of central Paris where the demonstrations take place is striking. The shooting is set close to the Champs-Élysées. The Girard family is shown preparing for a great adventure to Paris, partly to voice their discontent and partly to see the sights. Their town is only three hours from Paris, but worlds apart.
As for the special forces, the officers are indignant, almost indifferent. They claim to have “defended the Republic” against a violent mob. Drucker’s character holds their steely gaze without flinching as she interrogates each officer. They were heroes at Bataclan, the terrorist attack on Paris in 2015, they remind her, so why is this different?
In essence, Case 137 is critical of the police handling of the protests and from the staged footage it is a clear cut case. Backing this, Moll uses a sympathetic lead, a hard-working mother, someone who knows the plight of the regional working classes and the police alike. He introduces a witness, a hotel worker from the black community (Guslagie Malanda) who is, from experience, distrustful of the authorities. And, plainly, the Girard family is not treated justly.
What makes it more nuanced, however, is the position in which Stéphanie finds herself. She is caught in the crossfire and dogged about exposing the truth. Léa Drucker embodies these complexities in a César and Lumière Award-winning performance which underlines an illuminating film.
