''The Specials'' () is a 2019 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache are French filmmakers, best known for directing the films '' Those Happy Days'' (2006) and ''The Intouchables'' (2011). Early life Éric Toledano was born on 3 July 1971 in Paris. Olivier Nakache was born on 15 ...

. It was screened out of competition at the

2019 Cannes Film Festival The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2019. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu served as jury president for the main competition. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho won the , the festival's top prize, fo ...

. The film is inspired by the true story of Stéphane Benhamou and Daoud Tatou.

Plot

Bruno (

Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He has earned a César Awards, César Award and a Canadian Screen Awards, Canadian Screen Award as well as nominations for a European Film Awards, European Film Award and a Screen Ac ...

) runs an organization helping people with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

by finding job placements and activities for them outside of the confines of the institutionalized hospital setting, along with Malik (

Reda Kateb Reda Kateb (; ; born 27 July 1977) is a French actor. Life and career Kateb was born in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, to an Algerian actor, Malek-Eddine Kateb, and a French nurse of Czech and Italian origin. He is a grandnephew of the Algerian writer ...

), who certifies teenagers from Paris's rough neighborhoods to care for autistic patients. Bruno continually hires more staff despite his organization's financial problems. His organization is also under investigation by the social affairs inspector for operating without a license. Bruno gets Joseph, his oldest patient, a job at a

washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a machine designed to laundry, launder clothing. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water. Other ways of doing laundry include dry cleaning (which uses ...

manufacturer, but Joseph struggles with the temptation to pull fire alarms on metro trains during his commute. One of Malik's students, Dylan, works with a patient named Valentin. Dylan struggles with appreciating the value of the program and is disrespectful toward Malik, who is training them to receive certificates to work with autistic children.

Cast

as Bruno Haroche *

as Malik *

Hélène Vincent Hélène Vincent (born 9 September 1943) is a French actress and stage director. Career She made her on-screen debut in 1969, with the movie ''Pierre et Paul'', directed by René Allio. A couple of years later, she had roles in prominent produc ...

as Hélène * Bryan Mialoundama as Dylan * Alban Ivanov as Menahem * Benjamin Lesieur as Joseph * Marco Locatelli as Valentin *

Catherine Mouchet Catherine Mouchet (born 21 August 1959) is a French actress. She studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, following the courses of Jacques Lassalle and Claude Régy. Her performance in the film '' Thérèse'', directed by Alain Cavalier, won he ...

as Doctor Ronssin * Frédéric Pierrot & Suliane Brahim as Inspectors IGAS * Lyna Khoudri as Ludivine * Aloïse Sauvage as Shirelle

Reception

The film received highly positive reviews. ''The Specials'' has an approval rating of 82% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10.

References

External links

* 2019 drama films 2019 films 2010s French films 2010s French-language films Films about autism Films directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano French drama films French-language drama films {{2010s-France-drama-film-stub