Borgo

Named after the Corsican prison where the film is set, Borgo moves on two narrative levels that slowly come together: on one level, a group of detectives investigate a cold-blooded murder, on the other, Parisian guard Melissa arrives in Corsica with her family to start a new job. Melissa works in Borgo where the inmates of unit 2 enjoy special autonomy. In the new neighborhood, local racism makes adapting difficult, and, on the other hand, her family life is in crisis too. In prison, Melissa, who prefers a humanistic approach with the inmates, meets an old prisoner acquaintance whose local influence suddenly makes her life easier. Without realizing it, she gets closer to the underworld until keeping professional distance becomes impossible and her humane gestures of goodwill become currency, favors to buy favors. Director Stéphane Demoustier turns this realistic prison drama into a morally complex and psychologically sharp study of power and responsibility.

Valtteri Lepistö