Three war-torn strangers posing as a family flee Sri Lanka’s civil war to start over in a troubled Paris suburb, but their past traumas resurface as they struggle to survive in their new environment.
Acting
Jesuthasan lived this — former child soldier, no acting school.
Direction
Audiard builds dread like he's stacking grenades.
Sound
Those jungle sounds bleeding into Paris streets.
Director
Jacques Audiard
Antonythasan Jesuthasan
Dheepan
Kalieaswari Srinivasan
Yalini
Claudine Vinasithamby
Illayaal
Vincent Rottiers
Brahim
Marc Zinga
Youssouf
Faouzi Bensaïdi
Monsieur Habib
Bass Dhem
Azziz
Franck Falise
Hall C Guard
Joséphine de Meaux
School Principal
Jean-Baptiste Pouilloux
The Lawyer
Vasanth Selvam
Colonel Cheran
Tassadit Mandi
The Lady on the Stairs
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Antonythasan Jesuthasan was an actual LTTE child soldier before becoming a novelist and actor; Dheepan was his first film role.
The film sparked controversy for winning Palme d'Or over Son of Saul, with critics calling it 'poverty tourism' — yet it remains one of the few Cannes winners centered on Sri Lankan Tamil experience.
FR
