Title: Sentinelle
Director(s): Julien Leclercq
Screenwriter(s): Julien Leclercq & Matthieu Serveau
Released: 2021
Runtime: 1h 20m
● Klara (Olga Kurylenko) is a French soldier who is sent home to participate in domestic counter-terrorist operations, basically the “burdened by the past” trope. One night, she goes clubbing with her sister Tania (Marilyn Lima) but conveniently loses sight of her. The next day, Klara is notified that Tania is in hospital in a coma after being raped and beaten.
● Given the short runtime, one is tempted to think it is an action-packed vigilante film. Sadly, it is not. Klara does her own investigation and one may think it will build to something dramatic but it never quite hits. The little action that exists is not too bad; maybe it tries a little too hard to be cool when it doesn’t need to.
● Structurally, it feels like the pacing is pedestrian with the occasional leap to the next event. It’s not nonsensical but it is off-putting. Overall, it is somewhat disappointing; the premise is sound enough, some of the necessary elements are there and Kurylenko is convincing enough as the soldier girl but the script can use a lot of refinement and more action.
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This mini-review is part of the collection for Taken clones and derivatives.
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