The Stronghold

BAC Nord (internationally titled The Stronghold) is a 2021 French action thriller film co-written and directed by Cédric Jimenez from a screenplay by Jimenez and Audrey Diwan, starring Gilles Lellouche, François Civil, Karim Leklou, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Kenza Fortas. The film made its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival out of competition on 12 July 2021. StudioCanal released the film theatrically in France on 18 August 2021. The film received seven nominations for the 47th César Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The plot is based on a scandal that took place in 2012 within the anti-crime brigade of Marseille where eighteen members were indicted for drug trafficking and racketeering. Synopsis In 2012 in Marseille, one of the cities with the highest crime rates in France, three Marseille cops, Grég Cerva (Gilles Lellouche), Antoine (François Civil), and Yass (Karim Leklou) hustle day and night to catch drug peddlers. Greg wants to bust the distribution center in the northern neighborhoods of the city. However, the area is a well-protected stronghold run by kingpins who will kill anyone to protect their turf. Greg demands a strong police brigade to seize the ghetto, but his senior, Jérôme Bodin, has a chain of command to follow. Every time Greg picks up fights in the northern neighborhood while catching criminals, he is humiliated because the police can’t use their equipment without authority.