The Night of the 12th

Directed by Dominik Moll
Film Movement
2022
115 Minutes
France, Belgium
French
Mystery, Crime, Thriller
Not Rated
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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 seven César Awards including Best Film and Best Director, THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH is a “deft and satisfying police procedural” that is based on “Pauline Guéna’s immersive account of a year spent with the Criminal Investigation Department of Versailles” (Screen Daily).

Director & Cast

  • Director: Dominik Moll
  • Starring: Bastien Bouillon
  • Starring: Bouli Lanners
  • Starring: Anouk Grinberg
  • Starring: Mouna Soualem
  • Starring: Pauline Serieys

Where to Watch

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Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "Critic’s Pick! A refreshingly grounded picture of crime-fighting."
    Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times
  • "A brooding, serpentine investigative drama that brings to mind movies like Zodiac and Memories of Murder, [A] taut and piercing thriller...."
    Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
  • "Movies like Zodiac use their tales of serial killers on the loose to suggest an inchoate, growing sense of evil that corrupts institutions and human relationships. The Night of the 12th is more modest. It’s only about one murder. What makes it so chilling, however, is the way it connects that crime, and its lack of a solution, to a profoundly diseased social dynamic. If other movies of this type end on the troubling idea that the killer could be anybody, The Night of the 12th dares to suggest that the killer, in some ways, is all of us."
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
  • "A deft and satisfying police procedural in command of its unusual tone, The Night of the 12th (La Nuit du 12) is perfectly cast and constructed with quietly thrilling rigour."
    Lisa Nesselson, Screen Daily
  • "The Night Of The 12th will emotionally exhaust audiences and get under their skin with its haunting ending…It may be time the police procedural made an arthouse comeback"
    Bobby LePire, Film Threat
  • "Always engaging, with Bouillon and Lanners both tearing into their respective roles with relish. A moody and fascinating piece of work."
    Boyd van Hoeij, The Film Verdict
  • "French film-maker Dominik Moll has given us a gripping true-crime procedural, a desolate study of the ubiquity of evil and misogynist violence and the abyss of unknowing into which everyone finds themselves gazing... a brutally engrossing drama."
    Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
  • "With its economical storytelling and sharply drawn characters, The Night of the 12th is an immensely watchable crime film."
    Dustin Chang, Screen Anarchy
  • "Dominik Moll crafts a French-style Zodiac, an ensemble police investigation both highly effective and brilliantly acted, where procedures and mindsets reveal a frayed society."
    Fabien Lemercier, Cineuropa
  • "The Night of the 12th morphs from a fascinating procedural, in which the continuous dead ends affect the psyches of the investigators, into a sadly damning portrayal of innate misogyny."
    Kevin Filipski, Film Forward
  • "This is an iron-grip film from minute one, an unbearably tense procedural that is punctuated by outbursts of anger and moments of achingly sad candour."
    Harry Guerin, RTE
  • "The Night of the 12th is a feature to sleuth along with, as Moll's second whodunnit in a row, but it's also a picture to sink into as its stark truths inhabit everything seen and heard."
    Sarah Ward, Concrete Playground
  • "Even though we know this is the story of an unsolved case, we constantly feel as if a breakthrough might be hiding around every corner. On the surface, the movie is a deadpan police procedural in which the detectives employ all the usual techniques to track down a murderer. On a deeper level, it’s a profoundly disturbing plunge into the dark recesses of the human psyche."
    John McDonald, Australian Financial Review
  • "While a specific killer may not be unmasked, toxic masculinity and its co-conspirator the patriarchal society stand in the dock - and the case against them is damning."
    Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
  • "A skillfully turned French crime picture…[The Night of the 12th] suggests that what makes this murder case especially interesting is not whodunnit, but the sexual politics underlying the crime and the investigation."
    John Powers, NPR's Fresh Air
  • "... one of the most unorthodox and original police procedurals I’ve ever seen. It eschews convention and steadfastly ignores the recognized tropes of the crime mystery blueprint. For those reasons alone, it should be seen by all fans of that genre."
    Michael Clark, The Epoch Times
  • "It’s almost bold of director Dominik Moll and screenwriter Gilles Marchand to center their film so much around both the male perspective and flawed, albeit noble cop protagonists, and intriguing how Night of the 12th flips this on its head by having them get lost in the abyss of the case by simply feeling like bureaucrats: detective work more about filing reports and getting the printer to work than anything actually productive or satisfying."
    Ethan Vestby, The Film Stage
Winner
Best Film
César Awards
Winner
Best Director
César Awards
Winner
Best Adapted Screenplay
César Awards
Winner
Best Male Newcomer
César Awards
Winner
Best Supporting Actor
César Awards
Winner
Best Sound
César Awards
Winner
Best Film
Lumières Awards
Winner
Best Screenplay
Lumières Awards
Official Selection
Cannes Film Festival
Official Selection
Jerusalem Film Festival
Official Selection
Closing Night Film
American French Film Festival
Official Selection
CINEMANIA Film Festival
Official Selection
Philadelphia Film Festival