La Tête haute (2015)

Malony is four years old. His young mother, Séverine, is irresponsible, addicted to drugs, and unstable, and fails to provide him with a satisfactory emotional and educational environment. He is placed by juvenile court judge Florence Blaque in several increasingly restrictive institutions. A few years later, his disastrous schooling has been cut short. He is prone to violent outbursts he cannot control and commits one offense after another. Nevertheless, the judge persists in trying to help him, despite her limited success and the boy’s often hostile, though at times endearing, behavior. He is more attached than anything to his mother and younger brother. When he is 16, Malony is taken under the wing of Yann, a determined juvenile justice educator intent on saving him. With the protection of a judge who believes in him, he swings between progress and setbacks, but keeps picking himself up, moving toward what may be the hope of a fulfilling life.