Awards
A Prophet won the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language and nine Césars (including Best Film, Director, Actor and Supporting Actor), in addition to prizes at both the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the London Film Festival. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.
It was France's submission for the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film. On 2 February 2010, when Academy Award nominations were announced, A Prophet received a nomination for Best Foreign Language film. The other four films in the category were Ajami, The Milk of Sorrow and The White Ribbon, and the eventual winner, El secreto de sus ojos.
A Prophet won the Grand Prix at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. At the 53rd London Film Festival, it won the Best Film Award. It won the Prix Louis Delluc 2009. At the 63rd British Academy Film Awards, it won a BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language. It was nominated for 13 César Awards, tying it with three other films for the most nominations of any film in César history. It won 9 Césars at the ceremony, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The film was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. The film also won London's Favourite French Film award in 2010, as well as Best Foreign Film at the 13th annual British Independent Film Awards, which were held in London at the Old Billingsgate on 5 December 2010.
A Prophet was also nominated for Best International Film at the 8th Irish Film and Television Awards, an award that went to The Social Network.
In a 2016 BBC poll of 177 critics worldwide, A Prophet was voted the 85th best film since 2000.
In 2010, Empire magazine ranked it at number 63 in its "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" list.
In 2025, the film ranked number 35 on The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 57 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."
Actors Sam Claflin, Karl Urban and Jon Bernthal and filmmakers Judd Apatow and Ryan Coogler named it as one of their favourite films.
