The new film by Dominik Moll is a restrained and sober work that quietly delves into one of the most sensitive chapters of recent French history: police violence in the context of the Yellow Vest protests. Far from offering a forceful thesis or a loud indictment, Moll proposes an exercise in calm observation that, nevertheless, remains unsettling. The narrative is driven by a case: an internal investigation into a young man seriously injured by police during a demonstration. From there, a map of tensions, doubts, and small gestures unfolds—gestures that, in their accumulation, reveal much more than what is apparent at first glance. The film does not seek to shock or stir emotions overtly. Its approach is, rather, one of patient, almost stubborn attentiveness. Each sequence seems to pose a question: what does it really mean to do justice within a structure that protects its own? Is it possible to remain impartial when one has been part of that very system? The answers are never given categorically, and therein lies part of the film’s strength.

There is also a sensitive gaze toward those caught at the margins: the victims, the unwitting witnesses, those whose lives are forever altered without warning. The film gives them space without turning them into symbols or martyrs, simply acknowledging their humanity and vulnerability. In this sense, Dossier 137 strikes a delicate balance between respect for the facts and the ethical need to take a stand.

It is interesting how Moll chooses the everyday, functional settings and seemingly neutral exchanges to build tension. What might, in other hands, have been a legal thriller or a combative drama, becomes here a restrained reflection on the fragility of truth and the difficulty of naming it when interests collide. The film progresses as administrative procedures do: slowly, with repetitions, with obstacles. But also with moments of clarity, with cracks through which doubt or empathy seeps in. It is in those small fissures that Dossier 137 finds its singularity. It does not aim to reform the system, but rather to question it from within, with the calm of someone who knows that well-posed questions can carry more weight than quick answers.