Find Movies & TV

The Anarchists

Directed by Elie Wajeman

2015 1h 41mDrama, Thriller,

5.746%

Set in 1899 Paris, a young police sergeant is chosen to infiltrate a group of anarchists, an opportunity he sees to rise through the ranks. However, he soon finds himself becoming attached to the group.

Where to Watch The Anarchists

Cast of The Anarchists

Tahar RahimJean Albertini
Adèle ExarchopoulosJudith Lorillard
Swann ArlaudElisée Mayer
Cédric KahnGaspard
Guillaume GouixEugène Levèque
Karim LeklouBiscuit (Marcel Deloche)
Sarah Le PicardMarie-Louise Chevandier
Emilie de PreissacClothilde Lapiower
Aurélia Poirier
Audrey Bonnet
Thibault Lacroix
Arieh Worthalter
Elie WajemanDirector / Writer
Gaëlle MacéWriter
Lola GansProducer

The Anarchists Ratings & Reviews

LivewireAdminSeptember 8, 2025
Les Anarchistes sets up a juicy premise: a young cop (Tahar Rahim) infiltrates a circle of fin-de-siècle radicals and gets tangled up in loyalty, ideology, and desire. On paper, it’s undercover thriller meets period romance. On screen, it’s more of a soft murmur than a rallying cry—handsomely mounted, intimately shot, but strangely timid about its own politics and suspense. Exarchopoulos is the draw and, unsurprisingly, the pulse. She does that low-key, watchful thing so well—communicating whole paragraphs with a sideways glance or a half-smile. Whenever she’s in frame, the movie feels oxygenated. Rahim is solid as the conflicted infiltrator, but their chemistry is more slow simmer than spark, which fits the film’s mood but doesn’t help the stakes. Craft-wise, the soot-and-gaslight texture works: cramped apartments, smoky cafés, and close, handheld framing that keep you inside the characters’ heads. Yet the film keeps skimming the surface of the group’s ideology and internal dynamics. We hear about danger more than we feel it. Plot turns arrive like gentle nudges, and the third act never finds the bite you’re waiting for. The result is a watchable, moody period piece that hints at bigger ideas—class tension, the seduction of belonging, the cost of betrayal—without pushing hard enough on any of them. If you pressed play for Adèle, you’ll get a handful of lovely, lived-in moments; if you came for the sting of an undercover thriller or a bracing political drama, it’s likely to leave you lukewarm.

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.

See the full list of supported devices