Though at the time of this writing, the 2023 riots in France have decreased in intensity, it proves downright eerie how much Romain Gavras’s Netflix released Athena predicted the civil unrest seen mere weeks ago.
On June 27th, French police officers unjustly murdered a 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, a French boy of Algerian and Moroccan descent, as he was driving a reportedly suspicious vehicle.
Protests initially began in front of police headquarters, only to soon escalate into riots that set the nation ablaze, particularly after video evidence contradicted the testimonies of the police officers involved.
The events recall a number of protests against police brutality worldwide, particularly the George Floyd protests that began in 2020 at the start of lockdown measures in the wake of Covid-19.
For France however, civil unrest is almost an annual recurrence, partly because its police force is one of the most brutal in Europe, having been condemned…
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