DOG 51

(Chien 51)

US Premiere | France, Belgium | 2026 | Thriller, Sci-Fi, Crime | 105 min | In French with English subtitles |
Directed by: Cédric Jimenez
Written by: Cédric Jimenez, Olivier Demangel
Based on the Book by: Laurent Gaudé
Produced by: Hugo Sélignac (Chi-Fou-Mi Productions), Patrick Quinet (Artémis Productions), Cédric Jimenez (Jim Films), StudioCanal, France 2 CinémaCinematography: Laurent Tangy
Original Score: Guillaume Roussel
Film Editing: Laure Gardette, Stan Collet
Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos (Salia), Gilles Lellouche (Zem), Louis Garrel, Romain Duris, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Artus, Hugo Dillon, Féodor Atkine
International Sales: StudioCanal

Synopsis

A dystopian Paris in the not-too-distant future. The city is divided into three distinct zones – separating its governing class, the haves, and the have-nots – and ruled with an iron fist by a powerful AI policing system named ALMA. When ALMA’s creator is assassinated, an elite agent and a jaded cop team up to track down the killer. Adèle Exarchopoulos and Gilles Lellouche lead a starry cast in another glossy, high-octane police thriller from director Cédric Jimenez, this time dissecting the dark underbelly of a divided society far too dependent upon artificial intelligence and spiraling helplessly into a fascist universe.

Director’s biography

A native of Marseille, Cédric Jimenez began his film career co-directing the documentary feature Who’s the BOSS (2003) with Karole Rocher. He co-wrote and produced Julien Seri’s Scorpion and Franck Vestiel’s Eden Log (both in 2007), then joined forces with Arnaud Duprey to co-direct Paris Under Watch (2012). Drawing inspiration from his home town’s “French Connection” drug-smuggling schemes, he made his solo directing debut with The Connection (2014), his first of several French box-office mega-hits. He went on to direct The Man with the Iron Heart (2017); and The Stronghold, another Marseille police drama, which premiered in Cannes and received six César nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. November (2022), which follows a five-day counterterrorism investigation in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks, also premiered in Cannes and received six César nominations, including Best Director. Dog 51 was the closing film of this year’s Venice Film Festival.