La nuit se traîne

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.

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.

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.

Wow... After seeing the trailer first, I was expecting a lot of this film. And I sure wasn't disappointed after seeing it.

I have to say, I've seen quite the Belgian blockbusters and hidden gems, as I collect them (as they are hard to find sometimes), but this one is up there among the best for me.

Non-stop brutal action scenes will come your way, well acted and super engaging from the start.

A simple yet clever story that delivers in a very realistic way, without trying to be anything else.

Apart from... - maybe - the very end.

The ending felt somewhat anticlimactic, given the progression of the story, and they did put in a tiny little political stance. However, it didn't make the main story fall short in any way, but I wasn't sure what to think of the ending as it was.

Overall, a solid 9/10.

I was surprised with this one.

Tons of action, unpredictable story, the twists are well written, acting is impressive, better than anticipated, good storyline, gets going right out of the gate, heartwarming, gut wrenching and an overall,a good flick. I would watch it again, not something I do with most movies. I'd recommend this one to most although the level of violence is pretty intense at times, so it's not for "everyone."

I wouldn't say the story is entirely original, however I haven't seen the same plot that I can recall, but have seen movies with the same general storyline but there's no stealing of ideas and the filming and location was stimulating as the area was entirely foreign to me personally.