Dheepan is a critically acclaimed film that follows the transplantation of a Sri Lankan freedom fighter into the gang-riddled housing projects of Paris. In order to receive asylum, Dheepan hastily assembles a makeshift family consisting of Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) and Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby) and boards a ship from the war-torn region. Upon arrival, Dheepan takes a job as a caretaker in the housing estates but quickly finds the violence between conflicting migrant gangs triggers the PTSD associated with the violent past.
Determined to make the best of it, Dheepan attempts to reconcile his differences with his new family while dutifully working as a caretaker, however it isn't long before the gang violence escalates and arrives on his front door.
Winner of the coveted Palme D'or at Cannes, Dheepan investigates the lives of asylum seekers fleeing a violent homeland war and into a new mess within their new homeland. The immediate relevance of the film certainly hit home with the French community with its accurate 'on-the-ground' depiction of the current state of affairs in Paris.
Dheepan is an intense 'slow-burner' as it painstakingly builds character arcs for much of the film preferring to weave the slow constriction of circumstance around the family before pulling at the loose threads. This can result in a slow feeling movie initially, however, with so much invested by the third act the tense conclusion becomes truly breathless.
