Les arènes

Emerging football star Brahim is about to sign with a professional club when the mysterious Francis walks into his life. As Francis introduces him to the dark side of the football business, Brahim finds himself torn between ambition, loyalty and personal aspiration.

At not even 18 years old, Brahim is on the verge of ‘going pro’ with plans to build a dream home for his family. That is, until he meets Francis. Drawn to this persuasive, interstitial figure who takes him behind the curtains of the football business, Brahim soon finds himself navigating uncharted waters. 

The focus of Les arènes, Camille Perton’s compact, riveting sports drama, isn’t the on-field spectacle but rather the invisible machinery that enables and at times prevents such spectacle. Perton’s debut feature demystifies club football, stripping it of its allure to reveal the omnipotent commercial apparatus underpinning it. In this muscle market where players are bought and sold like commodities, there is little room for sentiment, honour or even personal desire. 

Underneath the contemporary surface of Les arènes, one finds the beating heart of a classical tragedy animated by universal themes of ambition, loyalty and betrayal. With melancholic wisdom and emotional poise, Perton’s Faustian tale sees through the heady temptations of fortune, revealing that sometimes, bondage arrives wearing the garb of glory.

– Srikanth Srinivasan

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