‘The Night of the 12th’ Review: When a Case Doesn’t Close

Police procedurals don’t normally begin by saying that the crime at hand won’t be solved. But Dominik Moll’s “The Night of the 12th” does simply that, after which watches a French investigator labor away at a homicide case earlier than reluctantly abandoning it. This is a refreshingly grounded, deceptively plain image of crime-fighting as a grind of false leads, office fatigue and no closure.

Walking residence late from a celebration, Clara, a joyful teenager (Lula Cotton Frapier), is doused in gas by a hooded stranger and set on fireplace. Yohan (Bastien Bouillon), a particularly sq. new chief of a judicial police unit, questions a sequence of sketchy and dismissive guys that Clara might have been concerned with, turning up no definitive solutions. Clara’s good friend presents one reply that neatly sums up the misogyny of being topic to such random brutality: it was as a result of she was a woman.

Likely suspects emerge, then fall away; cellphone name audio is analyzed, to no avail. After a couple of years, a decide takes curiosity within the chilly case, funding new surveillance. But although the inexpressive Yohan does seem to be one of many good guys, he’s entering into circles, and might’t even assist his burned-out associate, Marceau (Bouli Lanners).

Despite all the perfect intentions, “cracking a case” simply doesn’t occur typically, and the film (based mostly on a nonfiction e-book by Pauline Guéna) matter-of-factly avoids the magical pondering we’ve absorbed from a long time of macho crime-fighting yarns. Instead, it’s a matter of dealing with long-term, slow-motion frustrations and failure — one thing sadly nearer to a number of widespread expertise than save-the-day heroism.

The Night of the twelfth
Not rated. In French with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. In theaters.