Les Diables

With English sub-titles.

Les Diables follows the pitiful lives of 13-year-old Chloe and her younger brother as they are bounced around from foster home to foster home after being abandoned by their mother. In his second feature film, French director Christophe Ruggia examines how the fiercely loyal dependence the siblings have for one another proves to be ultimately damaging.

The devils in question are 12-year-old Joseph (Vincent Rottiers) and his autistic sister Chloé (Adele Haenel), two tearaway tots who’ve spent their childhood on the run from foster families. Angry, deeply troubled and convinced that returning home will make his off-kilter sister right in the head, Joseph’s ready to fight anyone who gets in their way. Then his real mum turns up with some shocking news and his plans fall to pieces.

A glimpse of France’s harsh, unforgiving care system help this uncomfortable social drama turn pre-teen hormones into an incestual powder keg just waiting for a spark. True, the story’s all-too familiar, but the performances are something else: tiny little Vincent Rottiers swaggers around like he wants to be in La Haine when he grows up, while Adele Haenel steals the show with her faultless portrayal of autism, acting an incredibly difficult role with a finesse that makes Charlotte Gainsbourg look like an amateur.

Teenage kicks were never supposed to be like this.

A film like this is unlikely ever to be made in Hollywood, but if it had been these kids would have taken the Oscars for best actor / actress and lifetime achievement at the same time.