When he is duped into unlocking a door, a locksmith finds himself
involved in a criminal conspiracy.
Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Michiel Blanchart
Starring: Jonathan Feltre, Natacha Krief, Jonas Bloquet, Thomas Mustin, Romain Duris
This Belgian thriller from first time writer/director Michiel Blanchart
(co-writing with the French veteran filmmaker Gilles Marchand)
is the sort of genre exercise Hollywood once regularly pumped out in the era
before superhero saturation. Night Call combines a classic
noir setup of a patsy being duped by a femme fatale with the sort of rugged
chase action of The Bourne Identity and its sequels, all set
against a politically charged backdrop. It has the slickness of '80s French
thrillers like Subway and Diva, and the "one crazy night" narrative that was popular in American movies
of that decade.
Our unwitting protagonist is Mady (Jonathan Feltre) a
twentysomething Afro-Belgian who attends college during the day and works
all night as a locksmith on call. One night Mady receives a call from Claire
(Natacha Krief), young woman who has locked herself out of her
apartment. Claire claims she can't pay Mady, or provide ID, as her purse is
locked inside. Against his better judgement, Mady gives Claire the benefit
of the doubt, unknowingly breaking into a stranger's apartment from which
Claire grabs a bag filled with cash before fleeing.
This plunges Mady into a survival situation when the money's owner -
Yannick (Romain Duris), a mobster with a nasty habit of smothering
his enemies by duct-taping their faces - demands that Mady find Claire and
retrieve the cash. Initially accompanied by a pair of Yannick's goons, Mady
finds himself pursued across Brussels as he desperately searches for the
woman who got him into this mess.
Night Call is a simple thriller that simply works because it
keeps things simple. Blanchart and Marchand avoid the sort of mistakes you imagine a Hollywood
screenwriter would make if tasked with this tale. The focus is kept on the
plot, with none of the unnecessary backstory baggage that American movies
insist on lumbering their protagonists with. We get nuggets of a troubled
past for Mady, with a reference to an arrest for burglary in his youth and
hints of familial estrangement, but there's none of the tiresome "trauma"
that such characters are so often burdened with now, and no flashbacks to
interrupt the pacey narrative. Instead Blanchart places his trust in his
young lead, and Feltre impressively communicates a lot with his
expressions. The story plays out with Black Lives Matter protests in the
background, and Mady's blackness gives him a reason to avoid getting the
police involved, but the film's politics supplement rather than overwhelm
the narrative.
Mady's ethnicity adds an extra layer to a protagonist that acts primarily
as a classic cypher, a quiet young man whose silence allows us to project
our own fears onto his situation. Mady is clever and resourceful, but
never in a way that makes you think you're watching a secret agent rather
than an everyman. The immediacy of the scenario forces Mady to make split
second decisions, not all of which are the best choice.
It's an accomplished debut for Blanchart, who displays some visceral
filmmaking without having to resort to quick cuts and shaky camera. The
action here is always clearly visible and Blanchart makes sure to
establish the geography of every scene, which greatly aids the tension and
the feeling of a net closing in on Mady. A "oner" tracking shot as Mady
flees on bicycle into a subway and onto a train will have you leaning back
in your seat like the bloke in the old Maxell commercial. Let's hope
Blanchart gets further opportunities to work in European genre film rather
than following the usual journeyman path to Liam Neeson mediocrity.
Night Call is on UK/ROI VOD from
April 28th.
