Case 137 (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

PopEntertainment
Oct 23
2 min read

CASE 137 (DOSSIER 137) (2025)

Starring Léa Drucker, Jonathan Turnbull, Mathilde Roehrich, Guslagie Malanda, Stanislas Merhar, Sandra Colombo, Valentin Campagne, Mathilde Riu, Côme Péronnet, Solàn Machado-Graner, Théo Costa-Marini, Théo Navarro-Mussy and Florence Viala.

Screenplay by Dominik Moll and Gilles Marchand.

Directed by Dominik Moll.

Distributed by Haut et Court. 115 minutes. Not Rated.

Screened at the 2025 Philadelphia Film Festival.

It is kind of a strange experience to see Dominik Moll’s stunning exploration of the 2018 Parisian Yellow Vest Protests on the same day that seven million US citizens were taking to the streets for No Kings rallies all across the country, and the government was threatening to send National Guard troops to “monitor” the protests.

I suppose it is nice to see that there are similar problems in other countries, and yet at the same time it is a bit disheartening.

Of course, Case 137 is not about the protestors, exactly. Nor is it exactly about the police officers who were charged to control the “riots,” although both of these groups are central to what happened.

It is a fictionalized version of something which really happened during the yellow vest protests in which a protestor was shot in the head and crippled in what seems to be a case of mistaken identity during the protest. The police officers on the scene insisted that he was dangerous and threatening. The injured man’s friend said that they were just running because they were afraid and had not done anything that could be interpreted as threatening.

Léa Drucker plays Stéphanie, an investigator with IGPN, which is sort of the French equivalent of Internal Affairs. She is working hard to find out what exactly happened, all the while being shunned by both other police officers and the normal people who may have witnessed the incident.

What makes Case 137 sing (or rather, hum ominously) is its refusal to glamorize the process. Stéphanie isn’t a maverick cop with a witty sidekick and a penchant for bending rules. She’s a single mom, emotionally restrained, and painfully aware that her pursuit of justice might cost her everything. Drucker’s performance is a quiet storm – controlled, compelling, and devastating.

As the injured teen’s mother says at one point, Drucker’s character may be very good at her job, but it is a job that is basically pointless. Which is both rather true and rather tragic.

Visually, the film is all grit and grayscale, with cinematographer Patrick Ghiringhelli painting Paris not as the City of Light, but as a city dimmed by institutional shadows. The editing by Laurent Rouan keeps the pace brisk without sacrificing depth, and Olivier Marguerit’s score adds just the right amount of unease.

Case 137 is a sobering, sharply crafted indictment of systemic rot. It’s not here to comfort – it’s here to confront. In a world where accountability often gets lost in the shuffle, this film is a reminder that sometimes justice needs a magnifying glass and a whole lot of courage.

Case 137 turns out to be a devastating viewing experience, all the more so because it is so obviously completely true.

Jay S. Jacobs