Les Misérables (2020) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Gwada intentionally shoots Issa with the flash-ball during the chaotic chase, not accidentally as he claims. After accidentally teargassing himself, Gwada retaliates by firing the weapon directly at Issa's face. Stéphane later confronts Gwada at the bar, making it clear he knows the discharge was deliberate, not a mishap. Gwada deflects by blaming the stress of the day, but the film suggests his action was a deliberate abuse of power.

Foreshadowing: Chris's aggressive pattern of policing throughout the day establishes the squad's willingness to use excessive force against local youths.

• Gwada
• flash-ball
• Issa
• police brutality
• Montfermeul

The drone footage captured by Buzz records Gwada shooting Issa in the face with a flash-ball and the subsequent police misconduct. This recording becomes the key evidence of police brutality that the squad desperately tries to suppress. Stéphane uses the memory card containing this footage as leverage, ultimately giving it to Gwada with a warning, suggesting the evidence could destroy their careers.

Foreshadowing: The drone appears precisely as Gwada fires the flash-ball, turning a local altercation into a potential scandal.

• drone
• Buzz
• footage
• police brutality
• memory card

Stéphane confronts Gwada because he knows the flash-ball discharge wasn't accidental. He explicitly tells Gwada that a flash-ball doesn't go off by accident, revealing he understands Gwada deliberately shot Issa. This confrontation marks Stéphane's shift from apathetic newcomer to someone willing to challenge his colleagues' misconduct, though he ultimately chooses not to report them.

Foreshadowing: Stéphane's initial discomfort watching Chris abuse his power foreshadows his eventual willingness to speak up.

• Stéphane
• Gwada
• flash-ball
• confrontation
• memory card

The ambush is triggered by Issa seeking revenge for being shot in the face with the flash-ball. After being dropped off by Chris with warnings to keep quiet, Issa organizes a trap for the police squad. The attack escalates from a street confrontation into a full-scale siege, with the teens using bottles, fireworks, and eventually a molotov cocktail. The violence reflects the cycle of retribution and the deep tensions between police and the community.

Foreshadowing: Chris tells Issa to blame his injuries on a fall, but the community clearly knows the truth from the drone footage.

• Issa
• ambush
• revenge
• police
• attack
• molotov

Stéphane confronts Issa during the final standoff as Issa prepares a molotov cocktail to kill the squad. Rather than shooting, Stéphane hesitates and eventually lets Issa escape. This choice reflects Stéphane's moral crisis - he cannot bring himself to kill a wounded teenager, even one trying to kill him. The decision underscores the film's theme about the cycle of violence and the failure of both police and community to break it.

Foreshadowing: Stéphane's earlier instinct to protect Issa from the lion, readying his weapon but choosing restraint, foreshadows his choice not to fire.

• Stéphane
• Issa
• standoff
• molotov
• restraint

The closing quote from Les Misérables states: 'There are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators.' This references the film's exploration of how society cultivates conflict between police and marginalized communities. The quote suggests neither the police nor the youths are inherently evil, but the systems and conditions that shape them create violence. It frames the tragic events as a failure of social cultivation rather than individual moral failure.

Foreshadowing: The World Cup opening scene shows unity across social barriers, implying such unity is possible but rare.

• Victor Hugo
• quote
• Les Misérables
• society
• cultivation

After Issa steals the lion cub Johnny, his friends post a photo of him with the cub on Instagram. This social media post inadvertently reveals Issa's identity to Chris, who recognizes him as the thief. The viral photo becomes the crucial clue that sets off the chase to capture Issa, demonstrating how digital evidence can both help and endanger individuals in this community.

Foreshadowing: The social media exposure that helps police find Issa will later enable the community to expose police brutality through the drone.

• Instagram
• Issa
• lion cub
• photo
• identification

The mayor is attacked because he represents the establishment that controls the local community but fails to protect its residents. During the escalating chaos, the crowd storms the mayor's office, beating him and throwing him down stairs. This attack reflects the community's anger not just at police, but at all figures of authority who they perceive as complicit in their oppression. The mayor had earlier been contacted by Zorro seeking help retrieving the lion cub, showing his entanglement in local power dynamics.

Foreshadowing: The mayor's earlier involvement with Zorro and the circus establishes his role as a local power broker.

• mayor
• attack
• riots
• anger
• authority

After Stéphane negotiates the memory card from Salah, he gives it to Gwada at the bar confrontation. Stéphane tells Gwada to 'do what you gotta do' with the card, suggesting he wants Gwada to either destroy it or use his connections to suppress the evidence. This act represents Stéphane's moral compromise - he refuses to participate in the cover-up actively but doesn't turn his colleagues in either.

Foreshadowing: The memory card represents the truth that could expose police misconduct, but Stéphane ultimately chooses not to wield it as leverage.

• memory card
• Stéphane
• Gwada
• evidence
• drone footage

The film opens with joyful scenes of Parisians celebrating France's 2018 World Cup victory on the Champs-Élysées, showing unity across social classes and ethnicities. This moment of collective national pride contrasts sharply with the film's descending into violence and division. Director Ladj Ly uses this opening to establish that unity is possible, making the subsequent breakdown of order more tragic and suggesting such moments of harmony are fleeting in marginalized communities.

Foreshadowing: The quote's message about 'bad cultivators' implies the unity seen in the celebration is the exception, not the rule.

• World Cup
• France
• opening
• unity
• Champs-Élysées
• celebration