Le Petit lieutenant

Rookie policeman Antoine Derouere (Jalil Lespert), a young man from Le Havre, volunteers for the high pressure homicide bureau in Paris. Leaving behind his school teacher wife in their rural French village he embarks on a gritty and dangerous adventure. Under the leadership of Caroline Vaudieu (Nathalie Baye), a recovering alcoholic whose young son died from meningitis years earlier, Antoine’s naivety and eagerness to impress along with his partner’s complacency sets the scene for some fatal consequences.

Investigating a murder of bodies found in the Seine, one of a Polish immigrant, while following a lead, Antoine is abandoned and placed in a deadly situation. A captivating performance from Nathalie Baye who’s portrayal of a woman on the edge, falling off the wagon brings to life this authentic crime drama and won her a César Award. The Young Lieutenant’s director Xavier Beauvois who also directed Of Gods and Men depicts very realist characters with a genuine understanding of the shades of human emotion.