When a well-meaning doctor is chosen as an interim mayor in a Parisian suburb, and finds himself confronting a brave activist fighting for immigration rights (and herself running for mayor), his overreaction may destroy lives in Ladj Ly’s incendiary film.

Facing numerous pressures, newly appointed mayor Pierre unleashes an aggressive campaign targeting immigrants and their fragile hold on housing. Meanwhile, Haby, an idealistic housing advocate and herself a resident of the public housing under attack, decides to take on this interim mayor in the upcoming elections, but the corruption at hand might be too much for her to battle. A follow-up to Ly’s Cannes prize-winning Les misérables (2019), Les indésirables is a gorgeous film shot with righteous anger, but leavened with hope from Anta Diaw’s activist.

“Ladj Ly’s film is a searing portrait of gentrification, politics, and race.” –Terence Johnson, Le Noir Auteur

Content advisory: violence