Metascore
90 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. 100
    The best performance in the film is by Arestrup as Cesar. You may remember him from Audiard's "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" (2005), where he played a seedy but confident father who psychically overshadows his son.
  2. If Malik doesn't remind you of Al Pacino's Michael Corleone on his journey from innocence to corruption in "The Godfather" saga, well . . . he should. A Prophet is similarly, startlingly momentous.
  3. Reviewed by: James Adams
    100
    One caveat: At the risk of sounding sexist, let me say A Prophet is an unreservedly male film. Female characters are few and far between, and when they do appear, they pretty much fall into either one of two categories – les mamans ou les putains.
  4. More than anything else, however, director Jacques Audiard's gritty, grab-you-by-the-shirtfront film is a mob movie -- a really, really good mob movie. Think "GoodFellas," but with Gauloises and accent aigu instead of plates of spaghetti and accent Pesci.
  5. Essential viewing for art-film buffs and crime-flick fans, but also for anyone who's looking for a great story, terrific acting and masterful filmmaking.
  6. 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.
  7. A Prophet is the kind of film that makes you remember why going to the movies can be a thrilling experience.
  8. 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.
  9. 100
    It's a highly original film made in a familiar context, and an exciting moviegoing experience you shouldn't miss.
  10. 100
    To borrow a marketing phrase from another, very different film, A Prophet really is the movie that reminds you why you love the movies. Especially movies like this one.
  11. One of those rare films in which the moral stakes are as insistent and thought through as the aesthetic choices.
  12. Reviewed by: John Anderson
    100
    Uncompromising in its style, story and characterizations.
  13. 91
    Long and sometimes grueling, but it never feels indulgent or excessive. In order to be subtle about the horrifying transformation he records, Audiard needs to let it unfold slowly, so that only when we reach the end can we see Malik as a new man who has come unimaginably -- and terribly -- far.
  14. 91
    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.
  15. A Prophet pushes its protagonist into circumstances he did not choose but in which he watches and learns and kills and eventually becomes all he can be, albeit criminally. Certainly Muslims living in France have embraced the movie and Malik, played by Rahim
  16. 88
    Most prison movies are about escape or survival. A Prophet (Un Prophete) is about the creation of a consciousness. This one, too, could have been called "An Education."
  17. 88
    Audiard delivers on and exceeds the promise he evinced in that earlier film, drawing viewers into the densely layered, ruthless ecology of a French prison and, against all odds, making them not mind staying there awhile.
  18. 88
    It's imperfect, but it's daring, bold, and from a director who isn't scared of anything.
  19. 88
    Strip away the French and Arabic subtitles, the French-prison setting and the Muslim-messianic title, and A Prophet, opening Friday at The Enzian, would still be the grittiest prison thriller in years.
  20. Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    80
    What's most immediately remarkable about the film is the raw intensity of its hyper-realistic encounters, hugely enhanced by the superb acting of newcomer Rahim.
  21. Rahim and Arestrup are both so outstanding that if this were an English-language film, they'd probably be nominated for Oscars, too.
  22. Reviewed by: Andrew Male
    80
    A modern French crime epic where the smudges and crossings out do not diminish the passages of great dreamlike power.
  23. Reviewed by: Richard Mowe
    80
    Whether audiences have the stomach for 150 minutes behind bars remains debatable, but there is no denying the persuasive power of a film that takes no prisoners and pulls no punches.
  24. 80
    Some have compared this French crime drama to "The Godfather," and though that may be a common critical touchstone, writer-director Jacques Audiard manages to replicate its most elusive element, not the dark comedy or the operatic bloodletting but the incremental corruption of a decent man into a willful, coldhearted killer.
  25. If his two previous films suggested a director dipping a few toes in dark waters, Un Prophete marks the moment when Audiard took the plunge.
  26. Rahim is an exciting, unpredictable presence, and Arestrup's César has a stature that's nearly Shakespearean.
  27. Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    70
    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."
  28. 70
    Jacques Audiard's film, which lasts two and a half hours, maintains an unflagging urgency, stalling only when the double-dealing grows too dense.
  29. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    A compelling piece of naturalistic filmmaking, claustrophobic and thought-provoking.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. What is really great about this movie, is the simplicity of it. An Arabian man who is sentenced to six years in prison soon is confronted by a Corsican gang who gives him several tasks to do, soon becoming a ruthless gang member, and he can't even read or write.There is this sense of immense greatness toward Malik who is only 19 years old and seems like the only nice guy who won't shoot an inmate. And the Corsican gang seems to be his only refuge, even if he doesn't like it. The plot is simply told, not through verbal communication, but in several instances where the filmakers step you outside the movie and try to tell you, "This is Malik now." He soon becomes productive, and ruthless. He slowly rebuilds his life. A perfect crime drama that has things anybody could ask for in one. Full Review »
  2. Fantastic gritty, realistic depiction of life inside a French prison from start to finish. I could really only identify a couple of small aspects were improvement was possible. The first of these was in the english subtitles (not really even a part of the film itself)- they are not always a great translation of the actual dialogue. The second is in the development of the central protagonists relationship and involvement with the Muslim within and outside the jail walls, this could have been given additional clarity. However, as a cinema this film works all almost every level, effectively dragging us into Malik's world grim and realistic world. Don't miss it. Full Review »
  3. Un film choc qui peut aussi bien se voir comme un documentaire viscéral sur la vie dans les prisons françaises (en tout cas, les moins fréquentables) qu'un bon polar, avec en fond une histoire mafieuse se déroulant au sein même de l'établissement. On aurait bien pu se désintéresser du sujet assez rapidement, avec sa durée de 2h24, mais il n'en est rien, le film nous captivant de bout en bout. Et cela grâce à une impeccable mise en scène (donnant une atmsophère prenante à l'ensemble, une puissance à la plupart des scènes...), à un casting de qualité (avec en tête Tahar Rahim et Niels Arestrup), et à une bande son hypnotisante (qui amplifie le côté accrocheur du film). Bref, il n'y a rien à dire d'autres sur Un Prophète, chef-d'oeuvre du cinéma français que l'on doit à un réalisateur de génie : Jacques Audiard! Full Review »