Final Rating: 3/5
From directors/writers Hubert Charuel and Claude La Pape, Meteors (Météors) portrays a tale of friendship, addiction, and the inevitable toll it takes. It stars Paul Kircher as Mickaël (Mika) and Idir Azougli as Dan, two young men stuck in their small, northern French town with ambition to leave, and little means with which to do so.
They spend their time partying and working menial, or in Dan’s case, under the table jobs. The opening scenes unfold like something out of Uncut Gems, with a frenetic energy, as they attempt to enact one of Dan’s hair brained plans to make some quick cash. He comes across as the kind of guy we’ve all encountered who always seems to have a half-baked idea to try and make money.
In this case it involves kidnapping a prize winning cat, and Mika is the loyal friend drawn into this tornado. After it predictably goes awry, the pair are dragged before a judge. At this juncture Dan collapses in the courtroom and is rushed to hospital where the doctor (François Perache) informs him he is dealing with alcohol dependency and if he doesn’t stop drinking he may die.
This sets up a much more subdued dramatic tone for the rest of the film, and after his release form the hospital they are subsequently given strict instructions from a lawyer on what to do before their sentencing, set in six months, including giving up booze and drugs.
We see them pouring out all the alcohol in their apartment, and meeting with a councillor to discuss how they’re feeling. Mika manages to adjust well at first, while Dan dreams of going to work on an island where they take care of rescue dogs, which could be seen as a metaphor for him needing to be rescued, though he does not realize this connection.
In order to look like they’re trying to get their act together they get a job working for their friend Tony’s (Salif Cissé) construction crew. His company builds concrete structures to house nuclear waste and despite some concerns, and lack of safety training, the boys take on the work. However, before long Mika grows increasingly more irritated at their situation, lashing out at seemingly everything and everyone. This leads to a falling out with Tony, who is trying in a way to help Mika, while this is happening Dan has a fainting spell at work and is hospitalized for his injuries.
Afterwards Mika checks his room to discover empty beer cans hidden in Dan’s closet, as he secretly drinks at night, leading to the fainting spell. Tony also has to pay them off because of the injury and their lack of safety training, in order to not face worse consequences. He went out of his way to help them, and expects them to do the same, but Mika is not so sure, although he eventually relents.
As with any such story, there is a sense of being trapped, of losing one’s agency through no fault of your own because of this attachment. Mika doesn’t want to abandon Dan, but knows they can’t go on like this. He goes back to his old job working the night shift at Burger King, and we note when he checks in with his therapist how his frustration has grown. It’s understandable given the circumstances, though it never truly rises above this anger, simply highlighting his internal struggle.
One of its strengths is showing how addiction can draw all those around you into the well. Mika tries his utmost to get Dan to understand the severity of their situation, and sign up for rehab, but try as he might, neither he nor Tony, despite their good intentions, are able to reach him. Dan’s character fits the archetype well, but it would have helped to see him struggle more with this addiction throughout, until towards the end rather than just having those around reacting.
It will no doubt be reminiscent of other such stories, but the performances are solid, and it leaves one wondering how they’d cope with someone in a similar situation, which unfortunately too many have been forced to.
Meteors was seen during the 2026 International Film Festival of Ottawa.
