Who Was Watching the Police During France’s 2018 Riots?

The summer of 2018 was marked by widespread protests in France, as demonstrators clad in yellow vests (gilets jaunes) took to the streets to voice their discontent with the government. The riots were a culmination of years of simmering frustration among rural communities, who felt neglected and disenfranchised by urban-centric policies.

The new film Case 137, directed by Dominik Moll, sheds light on this largely overlooked chapter in recent French history. Based on real events, the movie tells the story of Guillaume, a young boy caught up in the crossfire between protesters and police. By focusing on one individual family’s experience, the film serves as a stark reminder that beneath the headlines, there were countless personal stories of loss and trauma.

Moll notes that the media portrayal of the gilets jaunes was often simplistic and misleading, reducing their complex grievances to mere populist posturing. This erasure has had lasting consequences for France’s social fabric. In the aftermath of the riots, police forces became increasingly militarized, further polarizing the relationship between law enforcement and the public.

The contrast between Moll’s meticulous attention to procedure in Case 137 and the sweeping narrative of the film is striking. By centering his story on the diligent investigator Stephanie (played by Lea Drucker), Moll humanizes the often-overlooked work of internal investigations units, who struggle to balance their duty to uphold justice with the hostility they face from colleagues.

The film masterfully weaves together emails, phone calls, and interviews to create a sense of claustrophobia and bureaucratic inertia. This narrative approach highlights the Kafkaesque nature of administrative processes that often obscure individual agency. Moll’s decision to focus on a single case rather than the larger movement was deliberate: he wanted to convey the idea that the 2018 riots were not simply a flashpoint, but a symptom of deeper social and economic issues.

“The fractures are still present,” Moll says, hinting at the ongoing struggle for recognition and representation in rural France. As Case 137 opens in theaters on August 13, it serves as a timely reminder that even in the face of official forgetting, history has a way of repeating itself. The barricades may have been dismantled, but the grievances remain, waiting to resurface when the pressure becomes too great.

The legacy of the gilets jaunes protests is still being felt today, with ongoing debates about police militarization, public trust, and the role of social movements in shaping policy. Moll suggests that it’s essential to confront these issues head-on, rather than allowing them to fade into memory like so many other forgotten uprisings.

As we watch Case 137 unfold on screen, we are forced to consider what this story means for our own understanding of power dynamics and social change. What can be learned from France’s experience? How might the parallels between the gilets jaunes protests and other contemporary movements – such as #BlackLivesMatter and Occupy Wall Street – inform our approach to addressing systemic inequality?

The film’s release also raises important questions about representation, accountability, and the role of media in shaping public discourse. By examining the ways in which events are framed, distorted, or ignored, Case 137 encourages us to reevaluate our assumptions about what constitutes “news” and how it shapes our understanding of the world.

Ultimately, Moll’s film is a testament to the enduring power of human resilience. As Guillaume’s family struggles to come to terms with their trauma, we are reminded that even in the darkest moments, there lies the possibility for growth, forgiveness, and – perhaps most importantly – change.