Do you want something to drink before we get back to it?
A coffee? A little hot chocolate?
How about a little "go fuck yourself"?
-That's what I wanted to say. - No, thank you.
I may play clever, but before that,
I've never set foot inside a police station.
Are you sure you don't know why you're here?
At that moment, I still thought I could handle it all.
I told you before, I have no idea.
Look, I don't know what you want.
But I've got my mother with my niece who's disabled.
So, you either put us under arrest, and we get a lawyer,
or we go free.
- I have to get to work. - Oh, yeah?
We're watching you on 24 News.
You look good on camera.
- Thank you. - Mm.
Although, you've really screwed up your career.
- At least I've got one. - Sure, you had a career.
Had. It's gone.
He wasn't wrong.
Although, it was supposed to be a good day.
ALARM
I live in the 14th arrondissement.
My living room is my bedroom, dining room, closet, office.
In short, the real Parisian lifestyle.
My landlord is a loaded old guy.
Biggest cheapskate you've ever seen.
I've been waiting six months for him to fix my bathroom.
But he won't accept the rent even one day late.
I make 2,000 euros as a freelancer and pay 1,500 in rent.
I'm good, and you, Mom?
I'm good, my love. Did you sleep well?
Yeah, great, and you?
Put it this way, I don't eat sushi for lunch every day.
'Course, I'll be there tonight.
-And as soon as I have any money... - Mom...
- ...it goes to my mom. -Yes?
I'm doing a story today.
Will you watch?
-Of course, my love, like I always do. - No, watch me properly.
Wear your glasses, turn your phone off, and watch.
-I was keeping it as a surprise. -I promise I will concentrate...
Today, the channel was going to announce me as the new presenter
for 24 News.
After years of struggle, my life was gonna change.
As always, I was covering the estate.
It become my special subject.
Basically, I was the station's collateral.
- Hello? -Fara, what are you doing?
We're waiting for you. We're live in two minutes.
I'm trying to find your riot.
What do you mean "find my riot"?
There's nothing here. There's no riot.
There's not even a hoodie with a joint. Nothing at all.
Hold on, I'll show you.
There's only this burnt-out car.
No problem. We'll manage.
-What do you mean? - Stand right in front of the car.
-Get in position. - You still want to run it?
Listen to me.
-A little higher. Like that, yeah. - You want the building in the background?
We can see the grim building in the back.
- Okay. -That's it. We're live in two minutes.
Hurry up!
I'd always dreamt of being a journalist.
Fuck.
My first story was my father's birthday.
I don't even know if Dad likes apples.
What're you doing?
But, Papa, it is your birthday today.
- We want to make you happy. - We're sorry, Dad.
You don't want to blow out the candles? Is it because the news is on?
My dad was always hypnotized by the news.
Ah. Sorry, the news is on. We'll do it later, kids.
And to get his attention, I dreamt of being on TV.
-Overtime, that became my obsession. - Come on, kids.
To become the first female news presenter of Arab heritage on French national TV.
-Good evening, ladies and gentlemen... -The Arab Claire Chazal.
Good evening, everyone.
- Thank you for joining us... - Fara!
...for the news of the morning.
Coming up right now, in the show,
- today's headlines... - Fara!
In the studio, live with me, Fara Bentayeb.
Fara, listen to your mom. Dinner's ready.
I'm coming!
I took Advanced Media Studies...
- Sorry. -...and shitty jobs to pay for them.
Hello.
Then I landed an interview with the biggest channel of hard news.
We read your CV, and we're interested in your profile.
Listen, let's be honest here.
Um, we're lacking, uh, a little...
Diversity quota?
I didn't agree with their editorial line at all,
but it was the first foot in the door.
It's an evolutionary perspective.
Show us what you can do on the ground. Very soon, we can make you a presenter.
24 NEWS THE MIDDAY NEWS
Eight years later, I was still on the ground.
The station star was leaving, the spot had finally opened.
-Hello, everyone. Hello, Margot. - Hello, Philippe.
-You're leaving us today. -This time, it would be mine.
THE MIDDAY NEWS
And they were going to make the announcement live.
This is the last time I'll be presenting.
But from tomorrow, you'll have Églantine Galtier in my place instead.
That's right.
We're going to miss you, Margot.
I'm going to miss you, too.
I got passed over by a girl who'd only been there six months.
And now, on to the news.
Ramadan begins in France...
Did you know about this, Alban? What the hell is going on?
- Calm down. We'll talk about it later. -Calm down?
It's the second time this has gone away from me.
It was mine this time.
- Now is not the time. -...last night at Villier-Le-Bel...
Pull yourself together. You'll get it next time.
Stay focused.
Our local reporter on the ground, Fara Bentayeb.
Yes, that's right, Philippe, I'm here at the Four Seasons estate
in Villiers-Le-Bel, where calm has finally been restored.
But the situation between news and the police remains tense.
So, tonight, law enforcement will be deployed at Villiers-Le-Bel.
In fact, we can see a burnt-out car right behind you.
How bad is the damage?
What are you doing, Fara? Keep going.
VILLIERS-LE-BEL: A NIGHT OF RIOTS
Yes, that's right, Philippe, the damage is significant.
There's this burnt car...
and this dead pigeon.
That's how this channel handles news with fake news.
I can't allow that, Fara.
Well, I can allow it.
We're not here to inform the French people,
we're here to sell them fear.
- Philippe, move on. -A little joke perhaps.
And we're missing the punchline.
- Cut the mics! -We're fuelling hate!
-This is misinformation. -What's next on the program, Margot?
What's next? Bunch of motherfuckers!
So, let's forget the fun fact of the day.
Flour sales have...
Okay, that's it. You can all go and fuck yourselves!
You're the director, you're not handling shit!
- Calm down. - She just ruined my show!
- It's not my fault. - I'm fucking screwed!
- Calm down! - It's not my fault!
We can't let you in, Fara.
You've known me for ten years.
- Mamadou, they don't even know your name. - I know, but I can't.
- Come on, move! Stop this bullshit! - Hey, I'm sorry, you can't.
It's coming from the top.
- Oh, Fara, stop! - Fuck!
- Stop it! - Hey, come on, I just want to talk!
- Mamadou, Mamadou. - Oh, yeah, great.
- They sent down Prince Charles. - Please.
- I just want to talk to them. - Calm down. Calm down.
- I just want to talk to them. - Stop, Fara.
You're acting crazy, okay?
What are you doing? You wanna force them to let you present the news?
They promised me it. You know that?
You know what their promises mean.
- They're not ready. - Oh, yeah?
- Really. - They're not ready for an Arab presenter.
You're shooting yourself in the foot.
I tried to forget, but the Internet caught up with me.
I'd hit rock bottom, but was trending on Twitter.
Luckily, I have my family,
because in my family, when you're down, they always find just the right words.
Those guys just don't give a damn.
To them, you're just a little...
a little North African girl from the inner city, that's all.
What are they going to say now?
"Those Arabs again!" Yeah, right. Exactly that.
Of course, just when we were on a roll, that's what we want!
Why did you do that, my love?
With all those years of study, huh?
- The sacrifices. -I know, I know.
You have come so far. Why?
Listen, I tried, you know.
Staying on the sidelines or keeping my mouth shut
won't make things change.
You know, I'm sorry I messed up.
If you have no job and... and you are... you are struggling,
just come home, my darling.
You come. You come live with Mom.
Oh, yeah, "my darling, my darling."
Mom, please, you got to do something.
She's turned us all into a joke.
We're going to get called names.
-And you still call her "my darling!" - That's enough for now, my girls.
We won't talk about this tonight.
Don't forget, it's the first day of Ramadan.
We spend it together, okay?
No one's going to ruin the first day of Ramadan.
Sure, okay. All right. We won't discuss it.
Sure, we won't say a word. Okay?
Are you coming, my love? Are you coming home tonight?
Okay, Mom.
Okay. Come home. Come home for your mother. For me.
-You can bring the chamia. - Promise.
And your brother is bringing the dates. Kisses.
Hey, Fara. Pick up.
Shit.
Fara, tell me. Are you at your place, or not?
-Yeah. - Do you still have that lock-up at yours?
Everything okay? What's going on?
I'm meeting someone in your neighborhood.
Could I park my car in your garage then, please?
-How long will you be? - I don't know, I don't know.
I'll be as quick as I can, soon. Three minutes, tops, okay?
All right. See you in a bit. I'm coming down.
Great, great. See you in a bit.
Oh, fuck.
- Cheers. - What's going on? What's up with you?
Nothing.
Can't I come by my sister's now?
- I didn't say that. - Okay.
Hey. I don't get a kiss?
What's with the lame kiss?
I've had a shit day, that's all.
Speaking of shit days,
I told the station to shove it up their ass
with three million people watching.
Why did you do that?
They've been fucking me about for too long.
Come on, come here.
- What do you want? - Come here.
What's going on?
Huh? What's going on?
I was always close to Selim.
Get out! Get out of my house!
I can't do this anymore. I am gone.
Even more so after my father left.
I became a second mom to him
while my mother was tied to working three jobs.
Let's not be late tonight.
You know Mom. She won't eat until we're all there.
- Yeah. - You'll bring the chamia?
No, I can't, I don't have time. Can you handle it?
- See you later. - Okay.
You wanna go to Villiers-Le-Bel with me?
What about a little tour to see the real riot?
Yeah. We'd go for a walk.
- We can go for a walk together... - Okay.
- ...hand in hand, yeah? - It's not about that, all right?
What is it about, then?
It's Selim.
Fara Bentayeb, Selim Zahiri.
What's the deal? Huh?
He took my mother's name, I took it from my father.
- So what, they're divorced? - He went away.
Shocker. How weird.
- What's he on? - Let's get back to it.
Where is your brother?
Does 24 News know that your brother has a record?
No, my mom had a fibroma. What's that to you?
Oh, yeah, I knew that about your mom.
- Ah, so you know my mom? - Around here, everyone knows your mom.
- More likely, that's your mom. - Yeah?
- Hey, enough with the moms already. - That bothers you? That's great.
Chill out.
So you don't know where Selim is?
For the thousandth time, I have no idea.
He's not at a friend or a girlfriend's place?
I don't hang out with my brother.
What have you got on my brother? What do you want from us?
- Your sisters don't know anything? - No.
Neither my sisters nor I have seen him.
We're expecting him for dinner like every Ramadan.
You done with the questions?
Bismillah. Enjoy your food, everyone.
Give me a date.
Where is Selim? I haven't seen him today.
He must be on his way, Mom.
- Mm. It feels good to eat. - Slow down.
- I have to go to Nour's later. - Mm? No way. Tonight is about family.
Leave them be. They're just young.
Young? Her friends' got implants in their ass.
Oh, my word. What is going on in the world?
Why did she do that?
She's a ho, Ma.
- What you going on about? Ho? - What is a "hoe"?
A ho?
- Well, yes, a ho. - That's Mrs. Ho's cousin.
Really?
What are you sulking for, Lina?
She didn't say she got kicked out of school, hmm?
Why did you have to tell her?
- Why did they kick you out? - Now you're interested in me.
I'll begin to show an interest in you when you learn how to spell properly.
Hold on. Hey. The other day, she wrote "hopefully" with one "L."
- How do you spell "hopefully," Imène? - Two "L"s.
Thank you, Imène.
- Please teach your sister how to spell. - Yes, teach your sister.
She's a reality TV chick.
- Oh, yeah, very funny. - Very funny.
Oh, yeah. What have you got, one L for--
Okay, enough. Enough already.
- Enough. - Why do you so
- What? - It's okay.
- Settle down! - Lina!
Someone always ends up crying.
- Lina, come on! - Oh, Lina, come back!
- Come back here! - Come back.
What? Is it Selim?
No, Mom.
- Poor, poor Selim. - Okay, leave me some food.
Pook kid. Poor kid.
- I'll be right back. - So, we're gonna eat it all.
We won't leave her anything.
- Hello? -Hey. Are you feeling better?
Look, I'm trying to have some normal family time.
-Are you sitting down? - What?
Uh, the station wants you to present the news.
Your meltdown this morning has gone viral.
24 News is getting slammed on social media,
They really want to put the fire out, and that's the solution they came up with.
So?
What do you think? I don't know.
I think it's a fucking trap, but hard to turn down.
Eighty thousand a year, a company car...
In return, you keep your mouth shut, behave, and follow the editorial line.
There you go.
But I'm afraid I'm gonna need your answer right now.
No. Don't get so angry...
So? Isn't this what you want?
Tell them I accept.
- Take care, see you later. -Okay.
The first person I wanted to share the news with...
- Mom. - ...was her.
- What's the matter? - That was my editor. My boss.
They want me to present the news.
After everything that's happened?
Yeah. They need to change their image, and so do we.
See? Allah makes it easy.
You work so hard, and it always pays off, my darling.
Oh, I'm so happy. I'm so happy.
Listen. Don't tell your sisters, huh?
Let's just have dinner in peace, yes?
Oh, it must be Selim.
Selim Zahiri is here?
THICKER THAN WATER
I thought I'd end my shitty day on a good note,
but found myself in police custody with my sister Yasmina.
Yasmina Bentayeb. Follow me.
I'm married, family of four.
She's the perfect embodiment of what we call...
- Bruv, we're bored here. - Right, bro.
Whoa! I am not your brother!
- I'm your mother! -...the mental load.
I work with the mayor.
You people are useless!
I have never been taken into custody.
Souhila Bentayeb. Come with me, please.
-My older sister, Souhila. - Have you tried the mosque?
Since her divorce, she only has love for God
and for her daughters, who she's raising by herself.
- Hey, it's Ramadan, no makeup, kid. - I am not going to eat it.
Imène, the little darling of the family,
- and Lina... - Is this gonna take a long time?
-...in full teenage crisis. - 'Cause I got school tomorrow.
Thinks she's Rihanna with her 10,000 followers on TikTok.
-But she lives on the estate. - Are you allowed to question me?
Uh, because I'm a minor and that.
He works, you know.
He runs a car hire company.
- Yeah, right. - He's in import/export.
He's in import/export for car rentals.
He does that sometimes.
Any more questions?
Here. Sign this little statement.
It's all right. You're a quick one, Columbo.
Ha!
Columbo says "fuck you."
See you soon.
They didn't tell us anything, just asked about Selim.
No, no, we don't know why we're here.
No, Mom. Don't worry. Everything's fine.
What do you mean, "everything's fine"?
Yes, we'll be back soon.
- So, did they tell you anything? - No, nothing.
I'll get a taxi.
Excuse me.
You haven't seen him today? At all?
No.
Do you know what he's accused of?
I'm not the enemy here. We're on the same side.
I want to find Selim so he doesn't make things worse.
So why do you treat us like criminals? Why don't you tell us anything?
And what do you mean "make things worse for him"?
He ran a red light on the way out of the city.
My colleagues blocked the road trying to intercept him.
But he hit a 37-year-old police officer.
Sorry about your colleague.
Huh.
He didn't tell you?
Because he called you at, uh, 17:42.
What was the call about?
He called me to ask what he should bring to dinner.
What was he doing in your neighborhood?
His phone was tracked to outside your place.
I don't know. He was probably driving around Paris.
- Maybe his car got stolen. - Exactly.
Maybe it wasn't him driving.
All the more reason for him to explain things.
Okay.
Sorry, our taxi is waiting. Should we go?
I... I don't believe it.
Fuck's sake.
But, well, he'd only have done it if he had no choice, Fara.
"Had no choice"? He's dragging me into it. I can't have a police file.
Whoa, big-shot journalist, neither can we.
- Just leave me alone. - No, hey, we need to think.
I can't.
We'll get bleach, clean the interior of any DNA,
and we'll say someone else was driving and that's that.
Yeah, right, bleach. Why not olive oil?
Some other guy came here and just happened to park his car at Fara's place?
Think it through a bit.
Right.
- What are you doing? - I'm calling Selim.
- What? - He's a suspect.
They'll be listening to his phone.
But we didn't do anything.
- Wait, "listening on the phone"? - I didn't say anything. I'm an accomplice.
- Yeah, whatever, but not me. - Being here, you are.
- Hey, it's open! - Lina, don't touch anything.
The keys are here.
Come here!
We need to move. Get rid of the car. If the police find it here, I'm done.
Oh, come on, I can't stay.
Karim and the kids are expecting me to come home.
Hey, it's the first day of Ramadan. Let's put our faith in God.
Everyone, go home, and tomorrow, we'll deal with this.
Calmly and quietly.
Oh, yeah, sure. Go home to your peace and quiet while the car stays at my place?
- Come on, what do you want? - I have no idea.
One thing's clear, Selim goes to prison, Mom won't handle it.
And you know it. We need to deal with this.
- What do you mean "handle it"? - Yeah, what do you mean "ourselves"?
It means, we take the car and drive it to Villiers-Le-Bel.
We'll play them at their own game.
The riots were in the news.
Set it alight there.
- What? - That's sick.
One more won't hurt.
- We can't go that. - We're not gonna burn anything.
What are you talking about? We're not thugs!
Hey. No car, no proof.
No proof, Selim is innocent as we are.
And in today's news, in Paris,
a policeman has been hit by an individual in a car
after he refused to stop at a roadside check near Porte Maillot.
When he saw the police unit, the driver accelerated,
backing into one of the officers who has been rushed to a hospital.
The police investigation is ongoing,
and they are appealing to the public
for any further information regarding the vehicle.
Oh, shit.
If you want us to get stopped, keep looking like you're all constipated.
What should we do then? Twerk?
I don't know. Chat about something.
- So, I'm a presenter. - What?
- That true? - No way.
I start tomorrow.
- You really have no morals. - A real slave.
What will people say?
That you're a sellout.
A sellout.
- You have no idea what I'm doing. - Come on, smile.
Smile, smile, smile.
Go on, drive.
What's going on? Come on, drive!
- What are you doing? - I can't.
- Don't tell me we're out of petrol. - We're out of petrol.
You're saying you didn't check it?
- Well, did you check? - It's not me who's driving!
Well, it's not my car! I can't drive and check the dashboard.
- Right. - Shut it!
- Don't tell me to shut it! - It's not...
I'm not telling you to shut it. I'm telling the guy honking.
- Paranoid much? - Don't call me paranoid.
- It drives me crazy. - That's enough!
- You're getting on my nerves! - You always do this.
- Again and again! I'm not having it. - Stop, stop, stop shouting at each other!
How does that help?
Fucking hell.
- Well, what do we do? - What can I say?
We'll burn it here.
Right. Get some ribs and have a barbecue.
Well, do you have a better idea? Or maybe we could call the petrol station?
- Where are you going now? - Have a sauna.
- God! What is she doing? - She drives me crazy.
I could really bloody punch her.
Fara!
What are you doing?
- Fara! - Hey, do you know where we are?
We'll end up on the news on her shitty plan.
- Lina! - Fuck! Or in prison.
- Lina! - Yeah?
What are you gonna do with that?
- See the petrol station over there? - Yeah.
Go get us some petrol.
Hey, wait. You're sending her to buy a loaf of bread? It's dark out.
- Why don't you go? - Because we're gonna push the car.
It's all right, Mom. There's no one around.
What's the plan here, though?
- To set it alight. Got your phone? - Yeah.
- Go, then. - All right.
- Lina, I didn't say you could! - Be right back!
If something happens to her, on my mother's life, I'll burn you!
I'm telling you, this is bullshit!
Whoa, sis. What's up?
It's closed.
Yeah, why? Something wrong?
Yeah. Can you help me out, please?
- No problem. - I only have cash.
- Sure, we can help out. It's all good. - Come here.
- Thanks. - Fill that up for the lady, please?
- Are you all right, girl? - Fill it up for you, darling.
- So, what's your name, girl? - Uh, Lina.
- Nice to meet you, Lina. - Good to meet you, Lina.
- Thank you. - Nice name.
- Are you on Insta maybe, or... - Honestly, I'm not on socials.
- For real? - No.
- Oh... - I don't believe you.
- All right, babe. - Thanks.
- What're you gonna give us? - What are you gonna do for me?
- Okay, I have 20 euros. Here. - Oh.
- We can come to some proper arrangement. - What?
- Come for a ride with us. - You think you're gonna get
a blowjob for some petrol?
Come on, we didn't say that!
Give it!
You need to show us a bit of respect.
You need to show respect.
Get a better car first.
Calm down, sis. Relax!
It's okay. She's back.
All good, I have it.
- You okay? - Thanks.
- Did it go okay? - Yeah. I'm great.
- Go on, pour it everywhere. - Yeah, okay.
What are we gonna tell Mom?
We'll only mention the cop.
All this...
stays between us.
We'll never talk about it.
Okay?
It's our secret.
A secret that risked us losing everything.
Just when I was finally about to get my family out of all of this.
For us, family comes before everything.
Whatever we do, whatever we say, even when we argue,
as soon as there's a problem, we will rise up.
We can't help it. We were raised that way.
Fucking hell.
He fucked us.
Son of a bitch.
Hey. What are you doing here?
- What the... - You don't live here, do you?
Get lost before I rip off your glasses.
- I'll let management know. - Do you want me to give a statement?
- Piss off! - Okay, okay, okay!
No way. He won't screw us over.
- What do we do? - We leave.
I have this huge sense of responsibility and feel that...
everything that happened...
was down to me.
Good afternoon, Fara Bentayeb, it's one o'clock.
Here are the news headlines.
THICKER THAN WATER