Directed and co-written by Dominik Moll (Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (2000); The Night of the 12th (2022); Eden (tv series, 2019)) and starring Léa Drucker (Last Summer (2023); Custody (2017); War of the worlds (tv series, 2019-22)), Christian Sinniger (Wasabi (2001); Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (2009)), Geneviève Mnich (Les liaisons dangereuses (1980); The House by the Sea (2017); A Good Man (2020)) and Jonathan Turnbull (Paris Memories (2022); Paris Has Fallen (tv series, 2024)).
Crime drama; 115 mins; 6+; in FR with EN sub-titles
A riveting thriller told in docudrama format: Stéphanie Bertrand (Léa Drucker) works in the IGPN (Internal Affairs) in the French Police in Paris where she investigates cases where members of the police are accused of crimes, and is seen to be fair, efficient and dedicated.
Set in Paris in 2018 at a time when gilets jaunes (yellow jackets) protests were gaining popularity. A family from the Parisian outskirts drives to the city to participate and to have fun, only for two of them become separated from the others in the crowds, with one arrested and thrown in jail after a quick court appearance, and the other who was hospitalised after being shot in the head with riot bullets.
Léa, along with her colleague Benoit (Jonathan Turnbull), is assigned Case 137 in which she discovers the family is from the same area in which she grew up and her father (Christian Sinniger) and mother (Geneviève Mnich) still live.
They start by interviewing the members of the family, tracing their movements on the night in question, and trying to gain access to CCTV footage. Bit by pit the pieces start to form a picture and she puts pressure on different sections of the police who were on duty that evening. She feels that she has identified a group of five officers who could have been involved, but they are not saying anything. So she needs more; she goes back over the evidence to see what she could have missed and sees a light on in a window in one of the photographs...
A great storyline which must have required a huge amount of research, with great still photography used in conjunction with the video footage of the protests to great effect. But it is her character's steely determination to break the "blue wall of silence" and is looked down upon by other members of law enforcement, that ultimately drives the success of this film.
Currently screening in Kinepolis and CiNextDoor.
