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Director Olivier Marchal’s Squad 36 is a grounded, slow-paced thriller that meditates upon the very topical issue of police corruption. While the narrative focuses on the actions of individuals who abuse the powers they have been given to serve their own selfish means, the thematic significance of Squad 36 holds the rotting system and the seedy hierarchy of power accountable for creating an environment where such corruption festers. Characterization plays a key role in storylines such as this one, and it’s decent enough in the case of Squad 36. The issue is that the lead, whose Pov guides viewers through the narrative, is way less interesting than the characters who remain off-screen most of the time and yet affect the story the most. For a movie that is over two hours long, it is surprising the film doesn’t even have a fleshed-out roster of main characters—a...

Picture: Netflix

The latest movie from director Olivier Marchal, also creator of the show Blood Coast, stars Victor Belmondo investigating the gruesome murders of two of his former colleagues on his own.

For close to three decades, writer, actor, and director Olivier Marchal has enjoyed a steady career as one of the most in-demand talents for gritty crime dramas and thrillers in France. His newest movie, Squad 36, has been produced by his longtime studio, Gaumont, for Netflix and is his second movie produced directly for streamers, after Overdose, produced for Prime Video in 2022. A former police detective himself, Marchal is also fond of carrying gritty French novels to the screen, this time with the book Flic Requiem by Michel Tourscher. The movie is set in the elite anti-criminal unit Bri, and Marchal dedicates the movie to some of his acquaintances who have worked within the unit. This tale of corruption,...

“Squad 36” is a Netflix film starring Victor Belmondo, Tewfik Jallab, Yvan Attal and directed by Olivier Marchal.

Today marks the arrival of a French thriller that always pleases the audience while not leaving an excessive mark: a police story with a good plot, solid development, and characters with depth.

Directed by Olivier Marchal, “Squad 36” offers a raw and intense look into the world of Parisian law enforcement. Marchal, known for his gritty police thrillers like “Overdose” and “36th Precinct,” is no stranger to exploring the dark intricacies of police work. With “Squad 36,” he adapts Michel Tourscher’s novel “Flic Requiem” to the screen, creating a narrative that delves into the complexities and moral ambiguities of modern policing.

Plot

The story follows Antoine Cerda, a high-ranking police officer played by Victor Belmondo, grandson of the legendary Jean-Paul Belmondo. Cerda is transferred to the Anti-Crime Brigade after being sanctioned by the General Inspection.

French director Olivier Marchal has begun filming new police thriller Bastion 36 for Netflix, which is billed as a contemporary cop drama adapted from Michel Tourscher’s novel Flic Requiem.

Set in Paris, the movie revolves around Antoine Cerda, a senior police officer with the prestigious Investigation and Intervention Brigade, who is transferred to the Anti-Crime Brigade after being sanctioned by the General Inspectorate of the French National Police. The move sees him turn his back on his former comrades and unit, led by the charismatic Sami Belkaïm.

When two officers from his old squad are killed in less than 24 hours and a third goes missing in mysterious circumstances, Cerda embarks on his own investigation. His inquiries will reveal an intense police rivalry and take him on a terrible downward spiral.

The movie is not a sequel but takes the director back to the world of Marchal’s 2004 police thriller Precinct...