Who polices the police? Dominik Moll’s character-driven thriller introduces us to Stéphanie (Léa Drucker), a dedicated member of the IGPN—France’s internal affairs unit—who will stop at nothing to find the cops who severely injured an innocent young man during a peaceful protest in Paris. Premiering in Cannes’ prestigious Competition slate, Case 137 unfolds like a crack procedural as Stéphanie meticulously tracks down the flics in question, but this is no simple whodunit. Instead, Moll employs the genre to explore a stalwart officer’s gradual realization of the limitations of her job. Accused of being a traitor by her fellow cops and verbally abused by the victim’s family, who are impatient for justice, Stéphanie must navigate an emotional minefield, and Drucker’s subtle, reserved performance captures the character’s resilience and growing doubt. Case 137 is refreshingly human, measuring the toll on those devoted few trying to make a difference. —Tim Grierson
Dominik Moll
Dominik Boll is a German-born French filmmaker who made his feature debut in 1994 with Intimité. Among his other films are With a Friend Like Harry…(2000), for which he won a César Award for Best Director; Lemming (2005); Only the Animals (2019), for which he was nominated for a César for Best Adapted Screenplay; and The Night of the 12th (2022), the winner of Césars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film.