Antigone

Sophie Deraspe wrote and directed this Canadian drama, which moves the Greek tragedy of Antigone into present-day Montreal. At its centre is a teenage girl whose family came to Canada from Algeria when she was small. She thrives at school while her brothers drift into trouble with the law, and when one of them is jailed and faces deportation, she chooses loyalty to her brother over obedience to the state, setting herself against the authorities and becoming a figure others rally around.

Nahéma Ricci plays the title role, with Nour Belkhiria, Rawad El-Zein, Rachida Oussaada, Hakim Brahimi and Paul Doucet among the main cast, and Marc Daigle producing. The film runs 109 minutes and was made for about 4 million dollars. Deraspe's three directed features, in order, are Antigone, Shepherds and The Final Act, placing this one at the beginning of that run.

Ratings divide along familiar lines. On IMDb the film sits at 7 out of 10 from around 2,000 votes, while on TMDB it holds 6.8 out of 10 from a much smaller pool of 68 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 out of 10 from 21 reviews is noticeably higher than either audience figure, suggesting the film was appreciated more by reviewers than by the general viewers who have seen it.