Suleyman, a Senegalese migrant awaiting legalisation in Paris, finds himself mixed up with Kader, a drug trafficker who exploits him. Forced to move into a vacant apartment on a housing estate, Suleyman encounters Ibrahim, a 16-year-old lookout on probation. Initially suspicious of each other, they gradually develop an unexpected friendship, finding solace and support in their bond.

The first shot of Suleyman shows the title character failing to move a couch by himself inside a flat – one of the many subtle upcoming visual hints that he doesn’t fit anywhere. According to brother directors Yanis and Mehdi Hamnane, their character’s journey is consistent with their artistic concerns, “social determinism, identity and the place that we accept within a group, consciously and unconsciously”. Both avoid any feeling of miserabilism or “migration porn” by establishing a world of outsiders which truly mirrors ours: the lure of capitalism intertwining with the possibilities of fellowship.