When cranky bailiff François (Hippolyte Girardot) attempts to collect a debt from Algerian father Mohand (Fellag) at the latter's council flat on the outskirts of Paris, Mohand's son Salem (Aymen Saïdi) - who's holding a sizeable stash of cocaine for a mate - becomes alarmed. The resulting hostage situation brings these three very different men together on the titular top floor, left wing - even as the authorities bumble their way through a response and the media ominously portend terrorist activity. It takes a unique talent to mine satirical comedy from real-life racial and economic strife, and debuting filmmaker Angelo Cianci strikes that balance with effortless aplomb. Punctuated by tightly edited sequences of white-knuckle tension and astutely photographed in claustrophobic widescreen by Laurent Brunet (Séraphine), Top Floor Left Wing is a deft blend of genre elements and a shrewd critique of bureaucracy and prejudice.