NIGHT CALL Review: Unlocking Tension

One moment, a young Black locksmith is unlocking the door of a young white woman who says she locked her keys inside. The next moment, the young man is fighting for his life.

Night Call
The film opens in movie theaters Friday, January 17, via Magnet Releasing. Visit the official site for more information.

As the opening sequence swiftly establishes, Mady (Jonathan Feltre) is a good kid. He is honest and responsible, working the night shift as a locksmith in Brussels, Belgium, while also studying for Applied Sciences in college. He plays a CD labeled "Mom's Mixtape" while driving to his next call for help from a woman named Claire. What's not to love?

On his way through the city, Mady steers around streets where Black Lives Matter protests are boiling over. He's well aware of the turmoil that is enveloping his city; right now, though, his priority is his next call.

Claire turns out to be a beguiling young woman. She doesn't appear to be suspicious to Mady, so he opens her door and waits for her to show him her I.D. and pay him what's owed. Before he knows it, he is unexpectedly engaging in the aforementioned fight for his life, which is immediate, brutal, and bloody.

Writer and director Michiel Blanchart makes a smashing feature debut, from an action standpoint. Loosely inspired by a real-life Black Lives Matter protest turned violent, Blanchart's decision to weave that event into the narrative inevitably feels sensationalistic, and insensitive to the inherently larger issues raised. Yet, it also serves as a logical excuse for Mady's decision not to call the police for help at a crucial point, which resonates far beyond a single night in Belgium.

What results is a tense confrontation between Mady and a criminal gang connected to the apartment. Romain Duris brings great menace to his role as the gang's leader. Never for a moment can any doubt exist that he is a ruthless leader, even as his starkly contrasting home life is brought into the picture.

Mady makes for a beguiling hero, embodied by Jonathan Feltre in his sophomore feature appearance with an authentic presence. He cuts a slender yet dynamic figure as he blazes through streets, races up and down stairs, smashes out windows, and slows down only to contemplate violence against himself and others.

Vivid turns are also given by Jonas Bloquet as Theo, a dangerous yet understandable figure in the criminal gang, and Natacha Krief as Claire, the young woman who kicks the night into full-blown action. It's all captured beautifully by cinematographer Sylvestre Vannoorenberghe and cut to the bone by film editor Matthieu Jamet.

To some extent, Michiel Blanchart's script feels very Old School, in that nearly every moment is a foreshadow of what is to come. If there's comfort in that familiarity, and unease in making a thriller overlaid on a Black Lives Matter protest, Night Calls moves too fast to slow down and contemplate what it's doing. Taken as a straight-ahead thriller, it's smart and snazzy.