The Night of the 12th (2022)
Young and ambitious Captain Vivés has just been appointed group leader at the Grenoble Criminal Squad when Clara's murder case lands on his desk. Vivés and his team investigate Clara's complex life and relations, but what starts as a professional and methodical immersion into the victim's life soon turns into a haunting obsession.
- Thierry Verrier
- Dominik Moll
- Gilles Marchand
- Dominik Moll
- Pauline Guéna
Rating: 6.9/10 by 630 users
Alternative Title:
The Night Of The 12th - US
La nuit du 12 - FR
12-e éjjele - HU
追兇12夜 - TW
十二日的夜晚 - CN
12號的晚上 - 香港
Akkor éjjel - HU
12日の殺人 - JP
Country:
Belgium
France
United States of America
Language:
Français
English
Runtime: 01 hour 54 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $3,467,232
Plot Keyword: police investigation, misogyny, intimate
This is a fictional interpretation of an actual crime that sees newly promoted "Vivés" (Bastien Bouillon) take his team of Grenoble detectives to a small town to investigate a grisly murder. Walking home from a friend's house the previous morning, "Clara" (Lula Cotton-Frapier) is confronted by a stranger who throws a combustible liquid over her and then sets her alight. What the Police Justiciare have to work with is a ghastly sight. Their investigations quickly reveal no shortage of potential attackers. This girl had lived a "lively" life - unbeknownst to her parents - and her boyfriends ranged from the nerdy to the opportunist to the downright bad boy "Caron" (Pierre Lottin). Thing is, loads of suspects don't add up to loads of evidence and tempers amongst the team begin to fray as their lack of actual progress becomes frustrating, exasperating and personal. Although this has elements of a whodunit to it, it is essentially quite an interesting "fly-on-the-wall" style drama that illustrates the difficulties faced by an under-resourced team of officers who cannot but become involved in the heinous crimes they must try to solve. This film looks quite intensely at their own personal relationships and is frequently peppered with some dark humour and with contrary views on the victim that occasionally make it difficult for an on form Bouillon to handle. Bouli Lanners is effective here as his passionate sidekick "Marceau" - himself having his own share of domestic disasters, and as the narrative pans out we, too, are offered nothing concrete in which to hope! I didn't love the ending scenarios. The casualness, desperation even, seemed to fly in the face of so much of their previously meticulous police-work, but the lead performance is good, the cinematography potent and this is definitely worth a watch.
