Methamphetamine is a hideous drug. Meth makes a person become paranoid violent and aggressive - making them a serious threat to society and law enforcement. And maybe more importantly meth users are a threat to their own children and families.
In movies there are some things the French do that Americans are increasingly incapable of doing. One is honoring the complexities of youth. It's a quiet difficult undertaking requiring subtlety in a filmmaker and perception and patience from us.