Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A faithful retelling of the 1942 "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup" and the events surrounding it.
La Rafle is a solid, earnest historical drama recounting the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup of July 1942, when French police rounded up over 13,000 Jewish men, women and children under Nazi orders. The film is commendably faithful to historical events and benefits from strong production values and committed performances, particularly from Mélanie Laurent and Jean Reno. However, it largely follows the conventions of the European WWII drama genre without significantly distinguishing itself in style or structure. The cinematography is competent but unremarkable, the narrative arc is predictable given the well-documented historical events, and the emotional beats, while genuinely affecting, are delivered in a fairly conventional manner. It is a worthy, well-crafted film that serves its important subject matter with dignity, but it does not break new ground in any single category enough to warrant standout scores.