“Little Jaffna,” “The New Year That Never Came”… Cinema releases for Wednesday, April 30

♦ Little Jaffna ***

by Lawrence Valin

French film, 1 hour 37 minutes

In Little Jaffna , director Lawrence Valin delivers a vibrant and personal thriller set at the heart of the Tamil mafia in Paris. He plays Michael, an undercover cop confronted with a dual identity between loyalty to France and rediscovering his Sri Lankan roots. Inspired by Indian, American, and French cinema, the film blends stylized action, a quest for identity, and social tension in an exuberant and unique universe. A bold debut feature, Little Jaffna challenges the conventions of the genre and offers a fresh perspective on the Tamil community, driven by inventive direction and intense performances.

» READ THE REVIEW: “Little Jaffna,” a wild thriller at the heart of the Tamil mafia in Paris

♦ This New Year that never came ***

by Bogdan Muresanu

Romanian film, 2 hours 18 minutes

In this scathing and inventive comedy, Bogdan Muresanu revisits the fall of the Ceausescu regime through the intertwined destinies of six characters on the eve of the 1989 Romanian revolution. Shot in a raw 4:3 format, the film blends dark humor, paranoia, and the absurdity of everyday life under the communist dictatorship. It wryly imagines that a series of small incidents could have precipitated the regime's collapse. Between political satire and human drama, this subtle tragicomedy plays on the gap between the tension experienced by the characters and the viewer's awareness of the imminent end of history.

» READ THE REVIEW: “The New Year That Never Came,” a delightful comedy about the last day of the Ceausescu regime

♦ You shall not lie **

by Tim Mielants

Irish film, 1 hour 38 minutes

In this poignant drama directed by Tim Mielants, Cillian Murphy plays an Irish father confronted with the silent horror of the Magdalene convents in the 1980s. Adapted from Claire Keegan's novel, the film denounces the abuse suffered by young girls under religious authority, through the discreet but moving eyes of an ordinary man. Carried by understated direction, an oppressive atmosphere, and restrained acting, the film explores the weight of silence and guilt in a society plagued by omerta.

» READ THE REVIEW: “Thou Shalt Not Lie,” the weight of silence

♦ The rules of art **

by Dominique Baumard

French film, 1 hour 34 minutes

Winner of an award at the Alpe d'Huez Festival, this crime comedy by Dominique Baumard is inspired by the spectacular theft of five masterpieces—by Picasso, Léger, Modigliani, Matisse, and Braque—from the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris in 2010, worth nearly €100 million. The film features an unlikely trio—a naive watch expert, a loudmouth fence, and an art-loving burglar—in a plot that blends true events and farce. Carried by a tone that is both tender and funny, The Rules of Art alternates between offbeat humor and police tension, without ever choosing between the two genres. It captivates with its offbeat take on a historic heist perpetrated by bunglers far removed from the clichés of organized crime.

» READ THE REVIEW: “The Rules of Art,” Broken Arms and the Heist of the Century