- Original title: Un prophète
- Year: 2009 (France)
- Director: Jacques Audiard
- Genre: Crime drama, prison film
- Main cast: Tahar Rahim (Malik El Djebena), Niels Arestrup (César Luciani)
- Logline: A 19-year-old French-Algerian enters prison with nothing and slowly becomes a sharp, feared player between Corsican and Arab factions — guided by guilt, instinct, and hard learning.
1 — Plot and main characters
Malik El Djebena is 19, alone, poor, and nearly illiterate when he begins a six-year sentence in a French prison. He has no family on the outside, no allies inside. Very fast he is noticed by the Corsican mafia led by César Luciani. They force him to kill an Arab inmate, Reyeb, to prove loyalty. The murder saves Malik from being prey, but it traps him inside César’s control and leaves him haunted by Reyeb’s ghost.
- Malik El Djebena: Quiet, observant, quick to learn. Starts powerless, learns the codes, becomes a strategist.
- César Luciani: Violent, proud Corsican boss who rules the prison through fear and favors.
- Reyeb: Arab prisoner whom Malik is forced to kill; his ghost returns as a vision that pushes Malik to think and survive.
- Ryad: Muslim inmate who teaches Malik to read and write; later becomes his close friend and moral anchor.
- Jordi “the Gypsy”: A small-time hustler who helps Malik early on.
- Maghrebi gang outside: A powerful Arab crew Malik connects with during day-release jobs.
Over time, Malik learns to read, count, and speak in code. He does small jobs for the Corsicans and builds trust with Arab inmates. When many Corsicans are moved away, César’s power shrinks, and Malik becomes his translator and messenger with the Arab population. On day-release missions, Malik connects with an outside Maghrebi boss. During one car trip, a herd of deer crosses the road — a moment he “saw” earlier in a vision — and he saves them from a crash. People start calling him “the prophet,” but his “prophecy” is really about attention and pattern-reading.
| Faction | What they give Malik | What Malik gives them |
|---|---|---|
| Corsicans (César) | Protection, access, day-release missions | Hits, errands, translation, loyalty (at first) |
| Arab inmates / Maghrebi crew | Language, community, new alliances | Bridge to Corsicans, smart logistics, shared profit |
| Malik’s own network | Identity and leverage | Strategy that benefits all who back him |
Step by step, Malik stops being a tool and starts calling plays. He keeps César close, but he quietly builds his own path outside the Corsican shadow.
2 — Meaning of the film (simple)
The film is about survival and growth inside a brutal system. Prison is like a “school”: it teaches fear and violence, but it also teaches language, alliances, and power. Malik enters as a victim and learns to read people, rooms, and rules. The “prophet” idea is not magic. It is a symbol of intelligence: he watches, remembers, and predicts. He turns pain and guilt into focus.
- Identity: Malik is French-Algerian. Between Corsicans and Arabs, he does not fully belong to either side. He uses this “in-between” space as power.
- Guilt and conscience: Reyeb’s ghost is Malik’s guilt, but also his inner voice. It keeps him awake, warns him, and pushes him to be more than a pawn.
- Power shifts: When the state moves prisoners around, the Corsicans weaken. Malik sees the gap and fills it.
The core meaning: a powerless kid becomes a self-made leader by learning fast, staying observant, and choosing his own rules. The film says: you can be shaped by a cruel system, but you can also shape it back — at a cost.
3 — Ending explained
Near the end, César orders Malik to do a high-risk hit during a day-release. Malik uses this “mission” to make his own alliance with the Maghrebi crew. He plans the job so it helps them and does not leave him chained to César forever. The operation works, and Malik’s value rises outside the walls.
- Back inside, César senses Malik slipping away and tries to have him killed.
- It fails. The Corsicans are now isolated; their numbers are small, their reach is thin.
- Malik has support on two sides: sympathetic Arab inmates inside and a serious crew outside.
Two symbolic things happen in the last movement:
- Reyeb’s ghost stops appearing. This means Malik has faced his guilt and now owns his choices. He is no longer haunted; he is responsible.
- Malik gets parole and steps out of prison. At a distance, several cars follow him — not menacing, but watchful. These are his new allies, proof that he is not a nobody anymore, and also a sign that the “outside” is another system of power.
So what does the final image mean?
It is freedom, but not pure freedom. Malik is free from the cell, free from César, and free from the label of “errand boy.” But the convoy behind him shows the price of rising in a criminal world. He has a future, protection, and income — yet he also has obligations, debts, and eyes on him. He has moved from surviving to leading, but leadership still ties him to the game.
And the “prophet” idea in the ending? The deer vision earlier proved that Malik’s foresight can save lives. By the finale, he uses the same foresight to save his own future. He reads the map: he turns César’s order into his own plan, shields himself with new alliances, and walks out with a long view. That is the real prophecy — not magic, but clear sight. 🧭
In simple terms: the ending shows Malik breaking the old chain and choosing his own. He leaves the prison as a different man — sharper, calmer, and fully awake to how power works, both inside and outside the walls.