Life Kills Me

Sinapi's follow-up to Uneasy Riders, an adaptation of Paul Smaïl's autobiographical novel, concerns two unsettled French Arabs, 20-year-olds waxing restless at their meagre opportunities and their father's supine integrationism. Paul (Bouajila) is the elder and brighter, a putative businessman currently delivering pizzas. He flexes his muscles and mind through boxing, book reading and fanciful story telling, and at least impresses literature grad student Myriam (Testud, typically excellent). His simpler brother Daniel (Lespert, Ressources Humaines) is a more troubled proposition, hooked into a downward spiral of steroid fuelled bodybuilding. The film is sometimes awkwardly told, but the pathos comes through. And it carries the conviction of ungainly true experience.