Le sang des îles d'or

When Sandra Pantakidis listened that the young Julia Montero has been kidnapped she remembers then the case of Elodie Leclère and she is ready to help to her daughter Ariane Pantakidis who is in charge of the criminal investigation: the relationship between Sandra and Ariane is quite tense at the beginning and the case is very complicated: a first suspect, Fred -the ex-husband of Ariane- is involved because a white car in a video). At the same time Sandra remembers the case of Solène Marchando,the daughter of the former mayor. The corpse of Julia Montero is found near a beach-death by strangulation-. It seems the kidnapper and murderer is manipulating the police team and Philippe Leclère,Elodie's father.

I enjoyed the performances of Alexandra Vandernoot, Isabelle Vitari, Antoine Duléry, Alexis Loret, David Kammenos Avy Marciano, Gérard Dubouche, Nicolas Dromard, Bonnafet Tarbouriech and Nicolas Sartous.

The scenery is gorgeous. The plot is not bad, but nigh implausible at times. What disturbs me is the much overscripted intrication between family and police business: this may be deliberate (many police procedurals do it with good effect), but in that case it does not work. The mother-vs-daughter, wife-vs-ex-husband dialogues are rife with screams (inside the police station...) and the exes are almost part of the police investigation. Too much is too much.

In spite of this, the film is quite watchable. The actors and the scenery almost salvage the script! Alexandra Vandernoot is gorgeous and her 'ex-husband' (Antoine Dulery) is a natural for the role. 6/10 __ .