Night of the 12th ★★★
POLICE THRILLER (2021)
Directed by: Dominic Moll
InterpretationsCast: Bastian Muyon, Bouli Laner

“What do these men think about when they investigate crimes against women who could be their daughters, their partners? How do they see suspects? And the victims?”

Franco-German director Dominique Moll (“From Another Planet”) returns with an interesting detective thriller, no less relevant. Clara, a young lady, is brutally murdered one night while returning home. Grenoble’s forensic team, led by a young and ambitious boss, Johan Vive, who is immersed in work with an experienced colleague, takes on the case. However, as the interrogations go on and the number of suspects multiplies, a desperate realization comes to the policeman: almost all of them could have killed Clara. Mall methodically builds a fairly standard crime thriller with all the necessary atmosphere and characters. What is interesting here is his own (male) view on the topic of femicide. Vive and his team begin to investigate Clara’s past, discovering a series of abusive relationships. At the same time, they, like most men, have to face their prejudices and ghosts in order to get closer to unraveling the mystery.

“Many news stories are directly related to cases of violence committed by men against women. It’s complete madness when you think about it and don’t see it as yet another death. The police officers who have to deal with this violence are almost exclusively men. Even if some films and TV series show female detectives with praise, in reality we still live in a “man’s world”. What do these men think about when they investigate crimes against women who may be their daughters, their partners, their girlfriends, their sisters? How do they see suspects? And the victims? the director notes.

Otherwise, his film is fast-paced and well-acted, though the plot never really climaxes like most films in this genre do. Also, despite the similarities, what we have here is not a European Zodiac, but a film based on the informal division of men and women and the modern dimensions it takes on the occasion of a tragic case of violence. The way it reflects on the rest of the characters and ends up marking them is her biggest selling point.