Overview
A gripping tale of survival and identity in the face of violence and trauma.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- brooding
- tense
- compassionate
- serious film night
- arthouse cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a timely and powerful, if sometimes understated, portrait of immigrant displacement, integration, and unexpected familial connection.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Dheepan, Yalini, and Illayaal present themselves as a family to escape Sri Lanka and gradually seek authentic connection.
The protagonists navigate asylum, temporary housing, language barriers, and unstable work in suburban France.
Dheepan attempts civilian reinvention as a caretaker, but violence in the housing block reactivates his combat instincts.
The run-down Paris housing estate, drug-gang activity, and residents' daily routines are rendered as credible social environments.
Films like Dheepan, and why
The Visitor
Shared immigrant experience, social realism, displacement, and emotionally intense family formation amid urban danger.
Mediterranea
Shared refugee displacement, institutional precarity, understated humanism, and contemporary European social realism.
A Prophet
Shared post-conflict trauma, outsider identity, bleak urban tension, and morally complex drama.
In This World
Shared themes of migration, cultural dislocation, improvised family, and restrained but volatile social drama.
Movie Details
- Director
- Jacques Audiard
- Release Date
- 2015-08-26
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (538)
Cast
- Antonythasan Jesuthasan
- Kalieaswari Srinivasan
- Claudine Vinasithamby
- Vincent Rottiers
- Marc Zinga
- Faouzi Bensaïdi
- Bass Dhem
- Franck Falise
- Joséphine de Meaux
- Jean-Baptiste Pouilloux
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Dheepan about?
- A displaced Tamil fighter fabricates a family in France, only to find that building a peaceful home demands confronting the violence he fled.
- What is Dheepan like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Dheepan as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Dheepan violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Dheepan as brutal.
- What did critics think of Dheepan?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a timely and powerful, if sometimes understated, portrait of immigrant displacement, integration, and unexpected familial connection.
- Which films are like Dheepan?
- Films with a similar feel include The Visitor, Mediterranea, A Prophet, and In This World.
- How long is Dheepan?
- Dheepan runs 115 minutes.
- Where can I watch Dheepan?
- In United States, Dheepan streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now.
