it's a vivid dissection of modern-day France's social ills that's juiced up with some smart acting, tense stand-offs and a pervasive sense of despair; it's a hugely impressive debut and visually arresting from first to last
heavy-handed and predictable in spots, yet engrossing and provocative in others, it's an impressive if somewhat unruly debut that could play big at home and find takers abroad
a brutal, racially charged drama, marks “an impressive debut” for director Ladj Ly; There is an explosion of savage action that is so shocking, exciting and politically fascinating that it blasts the film into a different level
"Les Miserables" refuses to blame the match or the kindle for a world that's fueled by the fires they start together, and the scalding final sequence of Ly's film is powerful enough to obliterate the occasionally clumsy path by which it gets there
"Les Miserables" is stunningly filmed throughout in the most immediate and compelling way, so there's no doubting its authenticity. For a debut, it has been really remarkably well put together, expertly paced, deftly edited
