“What are you, some kind of a prophet or something?” I honestly believe that this movie is. A Prophet (or if you want to get really foreign on me, “Un prophete”) is an immaculate gangster conquest. The first in-theater film of 2010 I can sincerely say to rush out the door and see as soon as you possibly can.
A Prophet is an accidental mafia portrayal through the eyes of Malik, an Arab man sent to a French prison where he works as drug runner for a Corsican boss. It’s only later in this late Christmas present where things get interesting. Malik soon faces summons to assassinate, to plot against the dangerous men who got him involved in this business in the first place, and even facing the fact of obliviously coming into his own. It’s as painful as it is a blast following Malik, played by an amazing Tahar Rahim, as his perception of life clears from already-cloudy to murky, though the film makes it seem he’s found a dynasty of sunlight.
A perfect bandit flick among the likes of Goodfellas, and I say this with the utmost respect. I’ve never before compared any movie to Scorsese’s kingpin tycoon, however A Prophet feels so completely epic (and clocking in at around two-and-a-half hours you could see why I feel this way) its meaning can be broken down into anything from antiquity lessons to personal emotional casts.
Where director Jacques Audiard gets it right is by turning A Prophet not into a boring by-the-book film version of a history seminar but a no-holds-barred thespian entourage that will leave you feeling renewed.
Whenever a character overcomes a certain obstacle you as an experienced moviegoer know that something, someone, is always above watching over them, waiting to strike. And the movie takes past crime dramas into consideration and bottles its knowledge up to unleash a fiery monster of gorgeous cinematography, crazed directing, and wonderful acting.
A Prophet is an amazing look into prison gangs and an invested youngster’s rise to the top of a band of thieves with dark hidden secrets too big for a single movie to handle. Yet A Prophet is nearly able to, and still come out as if nothing had ever happened. Because maybe nothing really did.

Five out of five stars.