This is a fictional interpretation of an actual crime that sees newly promoted "Vivés" (Bastien Bouillon) take his team of Grenoble detectives to a small town to investigate a grisly murder. Walking home from a friend's house the previous morning, "Clara" (Lula Cotton-Frapier) is confronted by a stranger who throws a combustible liquid over her and then sets her alight. What the Police Justiciare have to work with is a ghastly sight. Their investigations quickly reveal no shortage of potential attackers. This girl had lived a "lively" life - unbeknownst to her parents - and her boyfriends ranged from the nerdy to the opportunist to the downright bad boy "Caron" (Pierre Lottin). Thing is, loads of suspects don't add up to loads of evidence and tempers amongst the team begin to fray as their lack of actual progress becomes frustrating, exasperating and personal. Although this has elements of a whodunit to it, it is essentially quite an interesting "fly-on-the-wall" style drama that illustrates the difficulties faced by an under-resourced team of officers who cannot but become involved in the heinous crimes they must try to solve. This film looks quite intensely at their own personal relationships and is frequently peppered with some dark humour and with contrary views on the victim that occasionally make it difficult for an on form Bouillon to handle. Bouli Lanners is effective here as his passionate sidekick "Marceau" - himself having his own share of domestic disasters, and as the narrative pans out we, too, are offered nothing concrete in which to hope! I didn't love the ending scenarios. The casualness, desperation even, seemed to fly in the face of so much of their previously meticulous police-work, but the lead performance is good, the cinematography potent and this is definitely worth a watch.

On the surface "La nuit du 12" is a raw, powerful police drama, but it's layered with many social topics that give it a special kind of depth. Although constantly focused on the main case (shocking and inexplicable by the way - the stuff that "real horror" is made of) the movie manages to raise some fundamental debates about human behavior, love, fear, marriage, domestic abuse, sense of duty, etc.

To me it feels kind of like "Roubaix, une lumière", but keeping a more general or "abstract" approach.

Based on a real case and the experiences of the French judicial police, the movie is raised to another level by some stellar performances from basically the entire cast, a very solid experience that leaves a mark on the viewer. Highly recommended!

A new movie by Dominick Moll is to be seen, his movies being rich with surprising details. This night of the 12 is the police investigation about the violent death of Clara, a young woman who had love relations with real weird young men looking for dangerous sensations, as it often happens nowadays. Yes, the young people we see are not socially stable, most of them are real completely lost misfits. And it's quite frightening as Clara's parents are well established and happy together. This discomfort also happens in the police who has more and more difficulties to understand this new deranged society. And we understand how important are the methods for searching the unknown, and the judge played by Anouk Grinberg is important. In this realistic portrait of our modern society, the entire cast play wonderfully, with a special bravo to Bastien Bouillon as the determined police captain and Pierre Lottin as a frightening kind of hooligan.

A life is cruelly taken in the night, no opportunity to run, to flee, to flight, doused in something that is lit, the flames engulf, force to submit, while the killer watches on, they lose their fight. The police investigate, pursue their leads, turns out there's many might have done the evil deed, but the evidence is weak, no matter where or how they seek, the perpetrator's not been caught and remains free.

The frustrations of the police investigating the brutal murder of Clara are brought to light as they struggle to track down her killer. It's an engaging enough piece of filmmaking but I thought it just ran out of steam towards the end and you're left just as dissatisfied as the investigating officers at the conclusion.

When I first saw the trailer of this movie, I thought it would just be a typical and by the books thriller film. Safe to say that I was wrong.

The movie was able to keep me interested in general as the plot was immersive and really well put together. The film manages to be unpredictable at times and from the get-go it is creating a very tense and bittersweet ambience. It has been such a long time since a movie made me feel genuinely anxious and worried about characters.

The cinematography was amazing. This movie was shot in the region of Grenoble, a French city surrounded by mountains and they really used the landscapes to their advantage to create a beautiful and colourful movie. The scenery is sometimes breathtaking. Even indoors scenes were amazing.

The acting is great. From small appearance to main character, every actor gives a believable and strong performance.

Unfortunately the movie gets a bit tedious in the last 20 to 30 minutes with less rhythm and believable dialogues to me.

It is still an amazing thriller that keeps you gripped and intrigued for its vast majority. If the last 20 to 30 minutes were handled in a better way, I would give it an 8/10.

This movie follows a police crew trying to figure out a gruesome murder that happens for no obvious reason or motive.

The build up and atmosphere are great, keeping us engaged and wondering - who killed that young, charismatic girl? Acting is superb and the suspense keeps you on your toes till the very end with a climax that is adequate and realistic.

I am doing my best not to give away the whole plot or the ending so I'll just leave it at that.

Really worth checking out.

9 out of 10 from me.

The beginning was so good and definitely a more unique approach to a murder on the street than your average American flick.

It kept you going with interesting characters, wondering which one of them could be the killer since they all seemed like possible choices. But then that's all it was to it. More suspects and no leads.

I know it's supposed to be a mystery that will remain unresolved but it just felt very underwhelming without a proper ending and the second half of the movie was dragged out and could've been made into an hour and a half.

Keeps your focus while you watch but it's nothing special at all.

Dominik Moll's talent is no longer to be demonstrated. Only The Animals (2019) was an impressive film with its dramatic structure and rich story. Here with The Night Of The 12th, the dramatic line of the film is more direct, traditional. With a femicide, the investigation, the suspects, the cops and their problems. The film is embodied by its characters, that is to say by its actors who give the required forms, first of all, to the policemen with Bastien Bouillon all in power, Bouli Lanners rather in nominal mode (he makes the same character in many films), but also and especially the complementary actresses, all of them characters who exist and bring a lot of emotions in a natural way. This natural way gives a documentary patina to the film, which we imagine well documented.

The tone of the film, all in objective description of the reality and emphasizing the human nature, is what makes the film exciting in spite of its subject, dark, just like the photography of the film. In particular this photography is dark and grainy. It embodies the climate, the darkness, the horrific fact, and the dark story, especially in the content of the end and the frantic search for the culprit very difficult to identify.

The crime film is dramatic, as is this story when we learn how this story ends. Moreover, one of the challenges of the film is to revive it with the character of the judge played by Anouk Grinberg. A character that did not exist before in the film, but that makes it even more hypnotic.

On the surface, this French Best Picture Cesar Award winner appears to be a straight police procedural about a case of a young woman brutally killed on her way home from a girl's night out. Dominik Moll's (WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY) adaption of Pauline Guera's non-fiction book about a true case changes the setting from Paris to Grenoble in the French Alps (Gilles Marchand collaborated with Moll on the script). Taking the story out of the hustle and bustle of the big city gives the movie more of an intimate flavor.

The two main cops on the case are a crusty older policeman Marceau (Bouli Lanners) and the younger new head of the squad, Yohan (Bastien Bouillon). The murder victim, Clara (Lula Cotton-Frapier), at first seems like a typical 21 year old - happy and well-liked. As the investigation continues they discover that she had a series of risky encounters with various guys. As more and more men are revealed, the more vexing the case becomes for instead of narrowing the potential pool of suspects, it widens them.

The frustration makes Marceau increasingly edgy. He is going through his own relationship issues and tarts to crack, lashing out at the potential killers. Yohan on the other hand, becomes more introspective, more intense. While many in the department and the public begin pointing the finger at the victim, Clara, Yohan feels more and more protective of the dead woman. It all increases his obsession with the case - and Clara's memory and reputation.

The decision to move the location to a smaller town is a wise one. Not only does it allow a more personal touch, it virtually eliminates the notion that it was some random killing as you would have in a metropolis like Paris. Everybody knows everyone in the area, but they seem oblivious about what secrets are happening all around them. Lanners and Bouillon are very good, as is Pauline Sereiys as Clara's best friend. Later on, two strong women characters, a Judge (Anouk Grinberg) and a fellow police officer (Mouna Soualem) enter the investigation and buttress Yohan's compulsion for the case.

NIGHT OF THE 12TH is a strong and disturbing drama. It may not satisfy those who want easy answers, but it realistically shows the frustrations inherent in police work and reality that justice isn't a guarantee for all.

French filmmakers are the kings of realistic cop films. Here's another story of a detective haunted by a difficult case. The resolution is spoiled in the very first credits, so the expectations are clearly set from the start. That doesn't make the investigation process any less interesting, with good characters, good dialogues and an enthralling pace that resembles the drifty focus of a detective working overtime.

It had me glued to the screen. Then, suddenly, after some timely reflections on male violence, several female characters appear out of nowhere and become the ones with the good ideas, the initiative, the answers, the ones in control of their emotions... it's not subtle at all. There are several allusions to the ineffective police work of male detectives specifically. At first it didn't bother me because the script is intelligent, on the whole, and not at all the usual Hollywood schmaltz, but this abrupt shift in content, tone and style is off-putting, the narrative becomes blatant, as if it was written by someone else. These scenes are added to the more or less fictionalised account of real events, I don't know, it certainly feels like something "added" to find a solution to the plot.

This does not affect the point they're making though, it's a strong one, presented here as in no other film I know of, with a case that speaks for itself. At the heart of the violence there is also a place for the police, and they're both full of men. It elevates the film, regardless of one's opinion on the late, abrupt loss of subtlety.

Heinous crime commited in the central alps area, with well known city names and mountain peaks from the cyclismic orgie called tour the france, sets the scheduele for the murder investigators at the county gendarmerie. A semi barbeeqd young woman is found in the park, and the story follows the real headbanging search for the culprit...

there are some daft weak moments within these 110 minutes, where they are shall not be spoiled, and i can assure you its definately not due to bad acting, because the cast is real prima creme frech. The breathtaking scenic views done by the filmographer is of high value to this production, unusually sharp and a sightseers dream.

The producers of this ,,a case i never forget'' ambitions has been leveled a bit higher than the time and means, i wonder if they thought this to be a 3-4 part mini tv-serie just because...

but the editors edge is sharp, the lack of background musical score in parts of the movie grinds your senses doubleedged and the acting is good. Therefore a starshot in the air from the grumpy old man, its a recommend.

We have a typical murder mystery underway but leads run cold and so does the story.

Instead of taking the story up and into new directions or at least with some progression, it becomes bogged down in it's own meandering pacing. It's as though the film dies halfway through.

What's really irksome is that modern American moralizing has now reached Europe. What the entertainment consistently fails to address is that on average, 70% of homicide victims are male.

One character says, 'There is something wrong between men and women.' No, there is something wrong with lazy, uneducated scriptwriters who tell stories based on impressions and clichés rather than doing any simple research into crime statistics.

It continues on throughout the second half of the film, which is the same area where the pacing becomes overly sluggish. The 'messaging' overrides the story and the journey of the characters. Very disappointing.

Europe has largely avoided American style clichés, but this is not a good sign. Please be more original. Black Box was an excellent recent French film, as an example. Europeans have long done their own thing. May it continue. Please.

This was a pretty good movie. The acting was good, the script, not so much. It had a good start, plenty of mystery to keep you guessing like a good policier. Slowly, the movie got to another level, a more social one, with the investigation in the background.

The social issues, although are worth mentioned in movies, as they are all around us, kind of ripped the movie in two. We got the abuse or domestic violence (against women), we got the life artist that can say anything about anyone with no repercussions, we got the eternal problem: why is this world run by men? Why do men hate women? And so on, in a world when women have more rights than any other period of the history.

The appallingly sadistic murder of a young girl on her way home from a friends one night, leads to a detailed investigation which takes years out of the life of lead detective Yohan Vivès (Bastien Bouillon) and his team. Whilst there are numerous suspects, largely taken from the girls many ex lovers, most who seem to have strange obsessions and / or criminal record, no proof can be found leading to a huge frustration within the team - as the opening remarks suggest, there is always that one case that eats away at you.

Immensely absorbing detective procedural thriller in the vein of Joon-Ho's 'Memories or Murder' and Fincher's 'Zodiac' where the inability to find the culprit for such a nasty, seemingly motiveless crime affects the police involved deeply both in their personal lives and with the general frustration of not succeeding. The performances are incredibly believable, particularly from Bouillon as the young cop in charge, but also notably from Bouli Lanners as the grizzled, seasoned cop whose marriage is collapsing during the investigation. You get thoroughly dragged into this story even somehow willing the team to find the elusive clue which will put the killer away. Gripping stuff.

It is fine and even though maybe it begins to run out of steam towards the end, at the start the killing is so well done and it is so terrible that we are thrilled for most of the film. David Fincher is never really too happy for us to know what is going on and even the ending is maybe not as we expect. Especially with Zodiac (2007) even when we know it is not going to have a happy or even an unhappy ending and maybe it is like this as well. Even with Se7en (1995) we do not really get the ending we want and it is certainly with this one. I'm not sure about the detective who has to go cycling round and round or the older guy who is going through a marriage breakdown. The cinematography is rather good and we love to see Grenoble and the mountains even if the police work starts to get a little uninteresting.

In its bones, this is a police procedural of a pretty classic sort, albeit with an overlay of social awareness, But it's done with enough style and restraint to make it a very satisfying example of the genre, in an excellent French tradition that goes back to Quai des Orfèvres and the outstanding 2005 film Le Petit lieutenant, to name just those. It involves a group of cops from the Grenoble branch of France's Police judiciaire, the equivalent of the criminal-investigation side of the FBI (vs. The latter's national-security functions, which are handled elsewhere). The P. J. takes over from the local police or (in this case) the gendarmerie, in really tough and complex investigations, as it does in the real-life murder case that is re-enacted here. Operating in tandem with an investigating magistrate, it has, as is demonstrated here, awesome investigative powers.

Not that they are of much use in this frustrating case, where, as the chief investigator points out, any of a whole range of suspects could easily have been the murderer of an attractive, charismatic young woman as she returns home on foot from an evening with her pals, even though there's no convincing evidence against any of them. It's no spoiler to say that the case, which eats away at the investigators, remains unsolved -- we're told this before the film even starts. So there are no triumphs of police work, and all seeming breakthroughs lead nowhere, all of which gives the film unusual texture. The agents are smart, determined, well-trained, and sensitive, and the film is as much about how they deal (not always well) with the limitations they come up against as it is about the more explicit, and perhaps overemphasized, theme of male abuse of women.

Some of the usual tropes of the genre are present. There are tensions within a group of policemen (the one woman appears later, to welcome effect) of contrasting personalities, with arguments over procedure and over basic philosophies, and there's a digression into the marital difficulties of one of them, Marceau, played powerfully by the Belgian actor Bouli Lanners. All this is handled with uncommon deftness and understatement. Add to this the spectacular mountain scenery of the Grenoble area, and La nuit du 12 drew me in and held me.

Much of the film is carried on the shoulders of the strikingly youthful lead investigator, Capitaine Yohann Vivès, played very convincingly by relative newcomer Bastien Bouillon, for whom I hope this will be a breakthrough. Both the character and the actor himself are given tough assignments. In the actor's case, the screenplay calls for him to communicate via long silences, during which he is required to react through only the subtlest shifts of expression, something he does remarkably well. He's also very convincing in his handling of the smart, slangy dialogue that the excellent screenplay assigns to him. Not all the sharp wordplay can make it into the subtitles, but the laughter around me this evening made it seem like not that much is lost, either.

So: La Nuit du 12 may not be a great classic for the ages, but, for its thoughtfulness, its wit and sincerity, and some very fine acting by all concerned, it is a very satisfying entertainment.

So the movie paces well enough until the middle of the second act, where characters start being jerks for no real reason ( or at least reason which is properly shown and justified to the viewer) and insert a hamfisted message about all men being murderers.

Suspects just hide things from the police and act erratically to create mystery and suspence ( which is fine to a certain degree), when they realistically they would just do those things in a normal way.

Main characters act and say things just to create drama amongst themselves when realistically they would just mumble to themselves and carry on with their day.

The movie feels like it has no real purpose other than to tell you that bad things happen sometime, and it's kinda men's fault. ( I'd agree with the message told if there were a bit more substance to it) There is little to examine with more depth than that, as a stone faced investigator chugs along an investigation with no real clues, and no resolution.

I won't beat around the bush: I like this, and I see much to admire in it. Some aspects are notably stronger or weaker than others, however, and not everything fits together perfectly; I don't think the overall impact is perfectly robust. I see why the picture earned such acclaim from some corners, not to mention many nominations and awards. I'm just not sure that I entirely agree with that perspective, for it's only in bits and pieces that I see the glimmers of greatness that would mark it as thusly deserving. Heavily emphasizing the point, there comes a discrete point when 'The night of the 12th' ('La nuit du 12') rather abruptly gels in a way it hadn't before, starting with a fragment of one scene that hits far harder than anything else in these two hours, and following through to the end with tighter writing than we got at any other time. That discrete point, however, is at almost exactly the time when there are twenty minutes left in the total runtime. I can name no few other titles that similarly found their best strength in the last stretch; on the other hand, other such titles haven't won multiple prominent awards for Best Film.

There are terrific ideas in the screenplay, a credit to filmmaker Dominik Moll and co-writer Gilles Marchand as they adapt Pauline Guéna's book. The core investigation is deeply interesting, and I repeat that the back end finds a burst of vitality that pointedly feels much sharper and more affecting than the preceding length. As part and parcel of the primary thread of the investigation the feature also explores the frustrating drudgery of police work, with leads that turn out to be dead-ends and a surfeit of waiting, watching, talking, and recording. Hand in hand with this, moreover, is an extra shrewd element of secondarily examining the personalities of these police investigators at different stages of their lives and careers. There's the fresh-faced rookie, idealistic and hopeful; the embittered veteran, struggling to maintain composure and all but at the end of his rope; in the middle, beyond youthful optimism and yet free of wizened cynicism, lies protagonist Yohan - knowledgeable, experienced, concentrated, and determined. Other supporting figures among their coworkers are a mixture of faceless workers and chuckleheads, and later we meet a newcomer whose resolve seems to exceed Yohan's. All these central storytelling notions provide a firm foundation for all else that 'The night of the 12th' is or could be.

The writing is also the source of my biggest criticisms, however. Chief among these is that the script further tries to touch upon the terrible truths of gender dynamics where violence and crime and concerned. Some characters question the nature of the relationships between men and women, with men committing the vast majority of crimes; other characters despairingly observe that women are commonly the victims, and the victims are blamed in spirit if not in letter as their private lives are scrutinized and judged. These are important matters to touch upon, but wherever scenes and dialogue do so in this instance the result is sadly clunky and unconvincing, in part as if Moll and Marchand had difficulty finding a way to weave them into the script. There's also the issue of how characters are written in general, for while the individuals that the police question are rather unlikable, so are no few of the investigators themselves; even those that are most honest and earnest in their profession stumble into lines of questioning that come across as disproportionately aggressive and badgering. With that in mind I suppose one could argue that one thing this flick has going for it, despite centering police, is that it does NOT specifically fall under the colloquial umbrella of "copaganda," but it me it feels more that we as an audience are nevertheless intended to be cheering for these cops who don't necessarily deserve our respect.

As one last criticism, I would suggest that not all the odds and ends fit together flawlessly, including even the core elements noted above. I think this comes down to the pacing of the plot development, for in my estimation we're forty-five minutes into the viewing experience before there comes a beat that especially commands our attention. Except in fits and starts, and again with the last twenty minutes being foremost, the storytelling at large comes off as a little soft, and less than perfectly grabbing. Alongside some choices of editing that I think are unfortunate, that softness every now and again results in a juxtaposition of components that is a half-step away from being parodying, which is the precise opposite intent of the movie. Suffice to say that there are some rough edges, and on the basis of these my own esteem of the whole falls a tad short.

Be all this as it may, when all is said and done this is very worthwhile, with a great deal more to appreciate than to lament. I repeat that the writing at its best is excellent, and Moll's direction as he orchestrates shots and scenes; I very much adore Moll's 2011 work 'The monk,' and when 'The night of the 12th' is firing on all cylinders I see the same keen mind at work. This is well made in most regards, really, from production design and art direction, to hair, makeup, to cinematography, and sound design. With a couple exceptions I'm a big fan of Olivier Marguerit's score, a varied and dynamic panoply of themes that do a fine job of capturing the mood and bolstering the tension of the proceedings. In fact, setting aside those last twenty minutes to which I keep returning, Marguerit's music might outshine the splendid root ideas in terms of broad value - and I would say the same of the acting. It's not that anyone gives an utterly revelatory performance, but every single actor is solid; even as some stand out above others in the casting, there are select moments scattered throughout that grab our attention extra hard. From those stars of the most prominence, Bastien Bouillon and Bouli Lanners, to those in smaller supporting parts like Mouna Soualem, David Murgia, and Pierre Lottin, all are marvelous as they embrace the somber spirit of the project and breathe life into their roles and scenes, and I'm very pleased with how good the acting is.

I'd be lying if I said that this didn't in some measure fall shy of my expectations; there are just enough areas of trouble that I can't bring myself to fully stand by the high regard it has otherwise garnered. All the same, for the level on which this film operates, such words are more about semantics than substance. Faults and all 'The night of the 12th' is overall a fantastic crime drama, and I think anyone who appreciates the genre will find much to love here. Recommended above all for anyone with a major impetus to watch, this is well worth checking out if you have the opportunity.

What an amazing synchronous film that had me at the edge of my seat from first minute. Characters are so realistically written and performed, plot is composed concerning the nowadays pulse of society, direction is captivating and proposes fruitful ideas according to the depiction of a police investigation (like the cutting edge realism of Sorogoyen does). How do the psychological blind alleys of the officers interfere with the procedures? Some murder cases remain evermore unsolvable as personal traumas does, which is always lurking to be replicated. Dominik Moll please make more movies like this or a crime series, your point of view is highly required to develop this over-glamorized genre further.

The Night of the 12th: French Noir crime film, i won't call it a thriller brcause it looks at the anatomy of a crime, the effect on the victim's family, her friends and also the suspects. Clara Royer (Lula Cotton-Frapier) was fatally set on fire by an unknown assailant as she walked home at nigh in the hills above Grenoble. T. None of the suspects are pleasant people, all of these men have bad attitudes towards women, some use domestic physical, emotional and mental abuse towards their partners, One of Clara;s friends Stéphanie (Pauline Serieys) points out to police Captain Yohan Vivès (Bastien Bouillon) that Clara is being judged because she had more than one boyfriend, how she really died because she was a girl. Yohan doesn't have such attitudes but members of his squad do, even though they are devoted to tracking down the killer. The prosaic details of the hunt, the false leads, the downbeat as a suspect is shown to be innocent of this crime, takes it;s toll on the team. Some have breakdowns. Yohan relieves the pressure through endless laps at a velodrome, going in circircles (or ovals rather) like the case. Intense performances by Bouillon, Serieys and Bouli Lanners as Marceau, Yohan's older, more experienced but volatile deputy. Important contributions come in the secod half of the film by Nadia (Mouna Soualem), Yohan's new assistant and Anouk Grinberg as the world weary investigating magistrate. No easy answers or solutions in this bleak examination of obsession, evil and misogyny. Director/Co-Writer Dominik Moll delivers an intriguing but disturbing drama based on a true case. 8.5/10.