Ad Vitam

Ad Vitam (2025), directed by Rodolphe Lauga, is a thriller that follows Franck Lazareff (Guillaume Canet), who survives an attempted murder and embarks on a quest to find his kidnapped wife, Leo. As Franck delves deeper into a world of mystery, he is confronted by his past and swept into a state conspiracy that proves more than he bargained for. While the premise offers potential for a gripping and emotional story, the film fails to rise above the clichés of the genre.

Guillaume Canet, despite being a talented actor, feels miscast in this film. His performance, while competent, lacks the depth and complexity that might have made his character truly compelling. It's surprising that an actor of his caliber chose to take on a role in such a formulaic and uninspired narrative. The supporting cast, including Jamel Blissat and Rayan Bouazza, doesn't bring anything particularly noteworthy to their roles, with their performances often feeling wooden and lacking emotional engagement.

The film's biggest weakness lies in its screenplay. The story follows a predictable path, offering few surprises or twists. While it tries to combine elements of action, mystery, and conspiracy, it never fully commits to any one genre, leaving the narrative feeling disjointed. The pacing also suffers, with certain plot points dragging on too long, and the dialogue feels repetitive and uninspired, leaving little for the viewer to truly connect with.

Visually, the film offers some decent action sequences, but the cinematography doesn't bring anything fresh or innovative to the genre. The direction is competent but lacks the flair needed to elevate the film beyond its generic premise. Ultimately, Ad Vitam feels like a classic example of a film that is forgettable, offering only brief moments of intrigue before fading into obscurity.

Rating: 5/10. A passable thriller with little to distinguish it from others in the genre, despite a talented cast and a promising premise.

At the beginning of the film, it is interesting enough for the viewer to watch the film and the story depends on the heroic man for his family and his child who will be born through his wife. He faces all the difficulties that come to him with great precision and faces people who break into his house. One time he and his wife were captured, and with goodness the heroic man was able to save his wife and child through his friend. Who worked with them to ensure their protection, and the story was detailed from beginning to end.

My rating is very sure about this movie who need a very important watcher to review this movie.

First movie of 2025...and it's a bit of a dud.

Firstly, a positive. There's some pretty cool action scenes here. I'm not familiar with French cinema but the main actor Guillaume Canet was great and really sold me on his tough guy persona. He really was the emotional core of the story, aside from just being an outright badass. The dude does everything : parkour, driving, martial arts....you name it!

However, "Ad Vitam" really struggled to hold my attention throughout its short run time, and just comes across as a cheaper and inferior version of the "Mission Impossible" series. The story didn't grip me at all. The majority of the film is one big flashback that doesn't even get to the main plot introduced at the start of the film until just over an hour in. For an action film, it's incredibly slow and plodding, and doesn't seem to have any momentum or pace until it suddenly ramps up in the last 30 minutes. It feels like a solid 40 minute pilot episode of a TV series stretched out to 95 minutes to be considered feature length.

Overall, it's not a film I'd recommend. It's typical of what you'd expect from a January Netflix film I guess!

Ad Vitam was for me and my wife a great ride hell.

The story took me on an emotional level mixed with suspense and lot of combat scenes.

It was interesting to watch inside the private life of the special forces GIGN of the French Gendarmes.

If you are looking for a fast paced movie with lot of action then this one will entertain you no doubt.

Netflix presented again another blockbuster that run already on number one of the international charts. Both leading actors Canet and Cortaillod delivered respectable top performance. Finally the director succeeded in making a good show time.

Congratulations to all the staff. It merita for this high value of entertainment a solid 7/10.

If you liked it see Sous la Seine.

Rodolphe Lauga delivers a top-notch action movie that stands out in the genre. What makes French films so appealing compared to Hollywood blockbusters is their focus on realistic scripts, grounded action, and authentic characters, which result in true emotional depth and drama. These are the kinds of action films you want to watch because, unlike Marvel movies, you're not stuck watching the same superheroes in endless, exaggerated battles. In this film, the people, the situations, the locations, and the thrilling chases all feel incredibly lifelike, pulling you into the story and making you feel like you're right there with the characters. It's a refreshing change from the typical formulaic films where you're just watching the same A-list stars in the same predictable shootouts. This is an action movie with real substance-a film that no John Wick can quite match.