Muganga – He Who Heals on Canal Plus: a shocking and never complacent film (review)

Triple-awarded in Angoulême, this fiction finds the right prism to tell the story of Nobel-winning doctor Denis Mukwege, masterfully played by Isaach de Bankolé.

After its great success in theaters (nearly 300,000 admissions in France), Muganga: He Who Heals can be seen this Tuesday evening on Canal Plus (and in streaming on MyCanal). Première recommends this drama inspired by the true story of Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his work with women victims of sexual violence.

He started opposite Villeret in Black Mic Mac, before becoming one of the recurring actors of Claire Denis and Jim Jarmusch while filming with Michael Mann, Lars von Trier, Ryan Coogler… The career of Isaac de Bankolé, which spans both sides of the Atlantic, is unlike any other. And there is no doubt that the role of Doctor Mukwege will hold a special place. Because it took all his charisma and his ability to bring out the moments of doubt, of despondency in the face of a seemingly impossible mission that he would nevertheless be able to complete. And to embody the multiple facets of this Congolese doctor awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize for having treated thousands of women victims of genital mutilation in his country. In 2015, Thierry Michel dedicated the documentary The Man Who Repairs Women to him.

Marie-Hélène Roux took years for Muganga (triple rewarded in Angoulême, by the public, the student and professional juries via the interpretation prize and which recently saw Angelina Jolie, overwhelmed by the result, join the adventure as co-producer) to see the light of day without ever giving up in the face of obstacles. And relying on the book written by Mukwege and her Belgian colleague Bernard Cadière, she built her story on the relationship between these two men, the essential glue of a shocking film which captures the unbearable side of the tragedies experienced by its women without ever falling into complacency or sensationalism. Thanks to its conscious staging of the limits not to be crossed as well as the need to show things in order to understand the horror. But also to the way in which de Bankolé embraced this character without trying to heroize him. So as not to betray him.

Of Marie-Hélène Roux With Isaach de Bankolé, Vincent Macaigne, Manon Bresch… Duration 1 hour 45 minutes. Released September 24, 2025