Three strangers, a man, woman and child, fleeing war and grief in Sri Lanka, are thrown together and find themselves in the deprived suburbs of Paris. It quickly becomes clear that their hopes of escaping war and violence may not come to fruition, they may simply have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. The intrigue of the set up and the naturalistic performances are the main attraction of this film. Jesuthasan Antonythasan plays the lead with admirable complexity. Dheepan spends more time trying to hide his emotions than show them. The chaos and brutality of their new environment is starkly portrayed, a parallel universe largely unseen by Paris tourists. The final act of the film is less a turning point and more of a genre shift, as social commentary and human drama gives way to something more akin to Liam Neeson in Taken, with shades of John Rambo. Dheepan goes on a super-soldier rampage through the neighborhood. This sudden break in narrative fidelity is jarring, and won't go over with large parts of the audience. Nonetheless, Dheepan offers many rewards and will have you talking long after it finishes.
Review of Dheepan
