The Night of the 12th French Film Festival

The Night of the 12th
(Dominic Moll, 2022, 115 min, France, French w/ English subtitles, DCP)

Introduced by Prof. Anne-Gaëlle Saliot (Romance Studies) and Mathilde Savard-Corbeil (Romance Studies)

Every police precinct has a case that defies explanation and evades solution. Recently promoted Captain Yohan Vivès (Bastien Bouillon) faces such an elusive mystery when he investigates the gruesome murder of a young woman named Clara in the French town of Grenoble. It is clear that the attack was premeditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. All the evidence points towards a scorned ex-lover, but which one? Vivés’ team methodically digs through the details of Clara’s life, uncovering her secrets while striving to weed out the killer.

Winner of 6 César Awards in 2023, including Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Adaptation

“ [Night of the 12th] assumes the perspective of the police without exempting them from its damning canvas; their cool investigative professionalism (and, in a sense, the film’s) registers as its own kind of complicity in a wretched, man’s-world status quo.” – Sight & Sound

“Somewhere beneath its enthralling depiction of obsessive police work is a cry from the heart against a broken system.” – Time Out