Athena (2022 film)
Athena is a 2022 French epic action drama film directed and co-written by Romain Gavras. The film stars Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek and Alexis Manenti. Athena had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 9 September 2022, where it competed for the Golden Lion award, and was released on 23 September 2022 on Netflix. The film received mostly positive reviews, with praise for the direction and technical aspects, but was criticized for its lack of depth. Plot Lieutenant Abdel, an Algerian-French soldier, holds a press conference outside a police station after his 13-year-old brother Idir dies in hospital, the result of three apparent policemen beating and leaving him for dead. He appeals for calmness after the death, but a group of youth, led by Abdel’s brother Karim, disrupt the press conference by tossing a Molotov cocktail and raiding the police station. After stealing a weapons locker and a police van, the youth head back to their banlieue, Athena, where Abdel also grew up. They begin to barricade themselves - and the residents of Athena - inside the housing complex. CRS riot police are sent to put down the uprising, while the youth respond by shooting fireworks and other improvised missiles at the police. In the middle of the chaos, a drug dealer named Moktar tries to move bags of contraband out of Athena. With the youth refusing to let him leave, Moktar and his gang take shelter in Athena’s shisha lounge, where they dig a hole to stash the contraband until the uprising has passed. Abdel returns to Athena to attend a memorial service for Idir. He sees Karim and tries to speak to him, but the latter escapes where the memorial service is disrupted by the ongoing violence outside. Abdel then helps to organize an evacuation and shelter for Athena’s residents, including a former terrorist named Sebastien, whom Abdel shelters in Athena’s daycare center. While leading a group of residents past a group of riot police, an altercation begins, and Abdel and other residents of Athena are kettled and arrested. Night falls and the riot police move in on the housing complex. Their units are forced to retreat, and in the ensuing chaos a young officer named Jerôme is separated from his unit and captured by the youth. The youth send a video of Jerôme to the police, threatening to kill him unless the three policemen who beat Idir are identified. Abdel is released from custody by the on-site police commander and sneaks in to Athena, where he confronts Karim about the violent uprising he has incited. He attempts to leave with Jerôme, but the youth pursue them, and the two are forced to take shelter in the shisha lounge. Moktar greets Abdel, and it is revealed that the two are half-brothers. He calls policemen who are on his payroll, and they agree to come rescue Jerôme. Karim, intent on recapturing Jerôme, confronts Abdel through the security shutter covering the front