Not many crime films take the main character dirty cop. Restless tries to take this point of view through the plot that moves tirelessly. Restless is a French crime thriller film directed by Régis Blondeau starring local actors, Franck Gastambide, Simon Abkarian and Michaël Abiteboul. This Netflix release was just released two days ago, so is it worth watching?
Thomas (Gastambide) is corrupt police. He was faced with a complicated situation, where his mother died simultaneously as an investigation into alleged corruption at the office. The situation was made worse when he hit someone to death on the road. Thomas tries to solve the problem by taking advantage of the situation around him in his way. Unexpectedly, it turns out that a mysterious person knows this action and blackmails him.
It has been a long time since Training Day, stories of corrupt police have been told non-stop. In the first half, the audience was brought into Thomas with all his outside the law’s act. We know exactly from the opening that Thomas is a dirty cop. The plot briefly only presents how he dodges and covers his crime. Many parties here enliven the atmosphere, family, his police colleagues, and a mysterious figure disturbing him. This three mixed each other, making the conflict even more interesting. The tension has been successfully presented to its full potential since the opening and is getting more intense towards the climax.
The coincidence in the plot is a bit unnatural, yes, but we can tolerate this. Then also, some of Thomas’ actions, which seemed odd and complicated, actually brought him into new problems. Why didn’t he throw the body in a river or forest? It would take some time before the authorities found his body. There is a saying, “crime doesn’t pay,” which is usually a moral benchmark in a typical film like this. Of course, Thomas was punished, but apparently, another saying applies here, “police are family.” Got it?
Restless has a different perspective from most crime thrillers, although playing too safe in the development. In addition to a solid script at the beginning, the star’s appearance, Frank Gastambide, also deserves thumbs up. His constant appearance with uncomfortable expressions and gestures and always looking anxious, but at the same time looking calm, was not easy to do. Restless is not Training Day with Denzel Washington’s superior acting, but for the level of production, this film is not bad at all.
