A woman touches her son inappropriately to quiet him down, a gym teacher takes a young student into a toilet stall, and a woman living on the streets gives her 10-year-old son to authorities so “he doesn’t turn out like me.” Those are some of the cases handled by Paris cops in the Child Protection Unit in the powerful, documentary-like drama “Polisse.”
It is directed by Maïwenn, a woman who goes by that single name. She also has a supporting role, as Melissa, a government photographer on assignment to record the unit’s work. Other members of the unit include a woman suffering through a divorce, a woman who’s just learned she’s pregnant and a guy who’s secretly in love with his married female partner. The high point is an exciting bust at a shopping mall.
The film chronicles the CPU cops in their professional and private lives. While never exploitative, “Polisse” can be extremely disturbing. Is it possible for a parent to mistreat a child in the ways shown here? Sad to say, the answer is yes.