Night Call - Überlebe die Nacht

Night Call is a taut, well-shot, well-acted action thriller that's also the first feature film by Belgian director Michiel Blanchart. It's honestly hard to believe that it's his first film-this carries the tension of a Safdie Brothers thriller, and the action is slick, realistic, and superbly executed (fully taking place at night). Blanchart cites Duel, Training Day, and Collateral as inspirations. For an actioner, Night Call also deserves praise for actually bothering to develop its lead characters (and their respective arcs) and set it against the backdrop of a BLM protest. Great performances from its core cast-Jonathan Feltre (Mady), Natacha Krief (Claire), Jonas Bloquet (Theo), and Romain Duris (Yannick). There are some clichés too, such as the "big bad villain in a suit", a car chase that ends in a crash, etcetera. But that doesn't stop it from being one of the most impressive directorial debuts in recent times.

Or is it bad call? No pun intended either way. For a first time feature length movie this really is well done. Especially the camera work (be it a car chase or a foot chase ... the movement of the camera is really one of the stars - if not the star of it all.

On the other hand this has quite a few issues with logic. And I mean the internal logic of the movie. As in what it tells us and what it shows us. There is a situation where one person could shoot another person .... which obviously would end the movie prematurely. There are other things that would make sense, but the pace of the movie likely helps you not to overthink the whole thing ... life matters ... and your own even more than others. So social commentary? A little for sure ... but is more interested in telling a suspenseful story ... than anything else.

Although 'La nuit se traîne' is set in Brussels, it has all the characteristics of a run-of-the-mill thriller from Hollywood. A gentleman-criminal living in a luxury high rise overlooking the city? Check. A high speed car chase ending in a crash? Check. A man escaping from his pursuers by entering a subway car that's about to leave the platform? Check. Two creepy looking thugs using violence againt anyone standing in their way? Check.

These tired Hollywood clichés and the abundance of violence stand in the way of what this film could have been: an original and well-written nail-biter with an interesting social dimension. The screenplay is clever enough. The film takes place during one night, in which locksmith Mady is drawn against his will into a dirty affair which keeps on getting more complicated and, for him, more life-threatening. In order to safe his life, he has to retrieve a large sum of cash before dawn. The events take place against the background of a large Black Lives Matter-demonstration.

But instead of concentrating on the story, the film takes unnecessary detours, and fails to explain some improbabilities. On the plus side, the director has put a lot of effort in filming the nocturnal streets of Brussels, and succeeds in showing the city from a nice aesthetic perspective. For viewers who are familar with the city, trying to recognize the locations is a nice game.

I liked the acting especially from the guy who played the main character but the ending fell flat and was very unsatisfying. The story itself had it's moments however, there were too many situations where the main character made silly or very bad decisions or where the scenes felt too "convenient" for the sake of pushing the story along. I. E. The scene with Theo and Mady in the car with the female activist or the club scene. This film had a lot of potential but the execution was basic and ok. It didn't leave a lasting impression on me. The actors were great. I just wish their talents were displayed in a better script. The guy who played "Mady" is a very talented actor. I look forward to seeing him in more projects.

I saw this movie with my school, not expecting much from a Belgian movie. I was proved wrong within the first 5 minutes. This movie is shot so beautifully, colors were amazing. The action is great and the story is simple yet interesting.

With their small budget they created a great movie I would watch again. Definitely a recommender.

I almost forgot to mention the acting, it was phenomenal. The actor that plays the main lead "Mady" can express emotion really well. Especially anxiety and anger. I also really liked the substory (no spoilers) and you kind of have to interpret the end, but I think it's made pretty clear.

10/10, great movie.