Eastern Boys

Filmmaker Robin Campillo's drama, set in polyglot modern Paris, centers on the Gare du Nord railway terminal—a major crossroads for France—where a gang of rather thuggish "undocumented" migrants from former Warsaw Pact nations gather to run various scams. One of the younger affiliates, Marek (Kirill Emelyanov) is a Ukraine war refugee turned male prostitute. Daniel (Olivier Rabourdin), a middle-aged, affluent Paris homosexual, arranges a rendezvous with Marek, but is robbed and humiliated by the rest of the gang, who party in his high-rise while looting his possessions. Remarkably, Daniel continues his love affair with the Ukrainian boy, teaching Marek to speak French and hosting him in his flat. The rest of the gang doesn't like the arrangement—especially their Russian "boss." A subtle character study focusing on the have-nots and outsiders in French society, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)