Sold to the global arthouse market as the "French Scorsese," Audiard does know his genre. A Prophet, the director has said, is the "anti-Scarface."
A Prophet(Un prophète)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France, Italy · 2009
Rated R · 2h 35m
Director Jacques Audiard
Starring Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi
Genre Crime, Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Sentenced to six years in a French prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. To get by, he aligns himself with a powerful Corsican mob boss, steadily working his way up through the ranks, until his success brings him into conflict with his mentor.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
Jacques Audiard’s film, which lasts two and a half hours, maintains an unflagging urgency, stalling only when the double-dealing grows too dense.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
Rahim is an exciting, unpredictable presence, and Arestrup’s César has a stature that’s nearly Shakespearean.
Why do we care? Because never before have the steps to thugdom, as depressing as that destination may be, been so rigorously detailed, neither romanticized nor negated. Don’t miss.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
There's also no romanticizing on the part of the director, who proceeds with calm, unshowy attentiveness (even in the midst of scenes of violence), creating a stunning portrait of an innately smart survivor for whom prison turns out to be a twisted opportunity for self-definition.
A Prophet has been compared to American TV series like "Oz" for its episodic plot and large cast, but it’s more like a Gallic "Goodfellas": thoroughly absorbing, exciting, even poetic. It’s a full evening’s entertainment.
Users who liked this film also liked
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
(De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté)
Can music tame the raging soul?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2005
- Director Jacques Audiard
- Cast Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Jonathan Zaccaï, Gilles Cohen, Linh Đan Phạm, Aure Atika
- Genre Music, Drama, Crime
- Available on Criterion Channel
Golden Door
(Nuovomondo)
A family from Sicily journeys to the United States in search of a better life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Argentina • 2006
- Director Emanuele Crialese
- Cast Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato, Aurora Quattrocchi, Francesco Casisa, Filippo Pucillo, Vincent Schiavelli
- Genre History, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Hoopla
Still Life
(三峡好人)
A man and woman witness societal changes in their hometown, which is headed for demolition.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, Hong Kong • 2006
- Director Jia Zhangke
- Cast Han Sanming, Zhao Tao, Wang Hongwei, Zhubin Li, Haiyu Xiang, Lin Zhou
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy
Pardon Mon Affaire
(Un éléphant ça trompe énormément)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1976
- Director Yves Robert
- Cast Jean Rochefort, Claude Brasseur, Guy Bedos, Victor Lanoux, Danièle Delorme, Anny Duperey
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Lorna's Silence
(Le Silence de Lorna)
In order to become the owner of a snack bar with her boyfriend, Lorna becomes involved in a diabolical plan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, France, Italy • 2008
- Director Jean-Pierre Dardenne
- Cast Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj, Morgan Marinne, Anton Yakovlev
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Time of the Wolf
(Le temps du loup)
One family struggles for survival after an unknown disaster leads to the collapse of civilization.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Austria, Germany • 2003
- Director Michael Haneke
- Cast Isabelle Huppert, Patrice Chéreau, Brigitte Roüan, Daniel Duval, Béatrice Dalle, Anaïs Demoustier
- Genre Drama
- Available on Metrograph, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Eyes Wide Open
(עיניים פקוחות)
Two men begin an illicit romance in an Orthodox Jewish community.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, Germany, France • 2009
- Director Haim Tabakman
- Cast Zohar Strauss, Ran Danker, Tinkerbell, Tzahi Grad, Isaac Sharry, אבי גרייניק
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on Apple TV
Ondine
Fairy tales and real life collide after a fisherman hauls a woman into his boat, believing her to be a mermaid.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United States • 2009
- Director Neil Jordan
- Cast Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda-Curuś, Dervla Kirwan, Alison Barry, Marion O'Dwyer, Tony Curran
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, VUDU Free, Hoopla, Plex Channel
Fratelli d'Italia
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1989
- Director Neri Parenti
- Cast Christian De Sica, Jerry Calà, Massimo Boldi, Sabrina Salerno, Nathalie Caldonazzo, Fabrizio Bracconeri
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Silence of the Sea
(Le Silence de la mer)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1949
- Director Jean-Pierre Melville
- Cast Howard Vernon, Nicole Stéphane, Jean-Marie Robain, Amy Aaröe, Georges Patrix, Denis Sadier
- Genre Drama, Romance, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Tokyo Fist
(東京フィスト)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1995
- Director Shinya Tsukamoto
- Cast Shinya Tsukamoto, Kaori Fujii, Kôji Tsukamoto, Naomasa Musaka, Koichi Wajima, Tomorowo Taguchi
- Genre Thriller, Action, Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, ARROW, Midnight Pulp, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, AsianCrush
Mr. Nice
43 Aliases. 89 Phone Lines. This is the Story of Howard Marks.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Spain • 2010
- Director Bernard Rose
- Cast Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny, David Thewlis, Luis Tosar, Crispin Glover, Omid Djalili
- Genre Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
The Parade
(Parada)
Parade će ipak biti!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia • 2011
- Director Srđan Dragojević
- Cast Nikola Kojo, Hristina Popović, Miloš Samolov, Goran Jevtić, Goran Navojec, Dejan Aćimović
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Hoopla
The Golden Dream
(La jaula de oro)
An emotional story of three children's challenging journey to America.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico, Spain, Guatemala • 2013
- Director Diego Quemada-Díez
- Cast Karen Martínez, Rodolfo Domínguez, Brandon López, Carlos Chajon, Héctor Tahuite
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Suzanne
The story of a destiny.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2013
- Director Katell Quillévéré
- Cast Sara Forestier, Adèle Haenel, François Damiens, Paul Hamy, Anne Le Ny, Corinne Masiero
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Les Francis
- ✭ ✭
- France • 2014
- Director Fabrice Begotti
- Cast Lannick Gautry, Medi Sadoun, Thomas Vandenberghe, Cyril Gueï, Thierry Neuvic
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Black Snake, la légende du serpent noir
- ✭ ✭
- France • 2019
- Director Thomas Ngijol, Karole Rocher
- Cast Thomas Ngijol, Karole Rocher, Edouard Baer, Michel Gohou, Thembaletu Ntuli, Sabine Pakora
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.