MFDB

Storyline

Hélène and Paul are driving to a dinner party when they come across a young prostitute being brutally mishandled by some pimps. Shocked and stunned by what they see, the middle-class couple don’t know how to react when Malika, who comes from Algeria, pleads for help and tries to seek refuge in their car. Afraid of what might happen, Paul simply locks the doors and they drive off, leaving the unconscious woman half dead on the pavement. Paul’s only concern is to remove all traces of blood from his car as quickly as he can. The next day, however, Hélène’s guilty conscience gnaws at her and she decides to find out what has happened to the young woman. She discovers Malika in a coma in the intensive care unit of a Parisian hospital. From this moment on, Hélène refuses to leave the injured woman’s beside. As Malika gradually recovers, Hélène begins increasingly to neglect her own family until finally, she decides to leave Paul and their son for a while in order to devote all of her time to looking after Malika. Hélène soon learns Malika’s sorry tale: she discovers all about the arranged marriage from which Malika managed to escape and how she wound up in prostitution. Hélène decides to help Malika leave behind her slavish existence – even if this involves Hélène taking on the pimps...

Festivals & Academy awards and others

Berlin International Film Festival 2002
Panorama