The Oscar-nominated French entry for Best Foreign Film, Un Prophète features Tahar Rajim as Malik El Djebena, a 19-year-old condemned to six years in prison. The impoverished Frenchman of Arab descent appears more fragile than the other inmates, but his life is transformed by carrying out murder missions to kill. Jacque Audiard’s film is not a spy drama or by any means a glamorous portrayal of assassinations. As one of the village elders symbolically says, “I can wash your shirt, but I can’t get out the bloodstains.”