Matthew D
More terrible Netflix slop, but this time it is French.
Director Olivier Marchal’s French crime thriller Bastion 36 or Squad 36 (2025) is just fine. Marchal’s bland direction feels like he wants to be Michael Mann, but this feels closer to a Michael Bay movie. Paint by numbers tough cop goes rogue to avenge his former police team. All the payback, revenge, and other convoluted crime stuff feels aimless.
Original Writer Michel Tourscher’s story is quite dull and unimaginative, but screenwriter Olivier Marchal does little to spice it up. The dangerous lives that cops lead is sure tough, but the crime plot is incredibly generic. You’ve seen this movie a billion times. You’ll never guess the twist ending, but that’s nothing necessarily a good thing. There are some cool car chases and exciting motorcycle pursuits. I was surprised by some of the neat fist fights in here.
Victor Belmondo looks bitter and bored as the rough cop Antoine Cerda, who likes martial arts and looks like a depressed Benny Safdie mixed with Josh O’Connor without charisma. Tewfik Jallab is okay as the angry cop Sami Belkaïm. Yvan Attal is actually pretty great as the steadfast police boss Charles Ballestra. Juliette Dol just looks dour as Antoine’s disappointed and concerned girlfriend Hanna Levasseur. She looks like a French Emerald Fennell mixed with Mackenzie Davis. Everyone else is so awful that they are not worth mentioning.
Editors Isabelle Bassaglia and Raphaële Urtin’s choppy editing is hard to follow and makes scenes unnecessarily confusing. Cinematographer Denis Rouden’s shaky camera shots are obnoxious, but there’s some scenes that look good. The vibrant neon lighting by Pierre Arnaud Ouvrard looks cool. Composer Erwann Kermorvant provides a downer score, but all the hype electronic rave music is awesome and gives the movie some life. Sound designers Yves Levêque, Philippe Welsh, Simon Poupard, Antoine Baudouin, and Grégory Vincent mix the music very loud and the voices super quiet.
Overall, Squad 36 is just another generic Netflix action thriller for 124 minutes, just this time it is in French.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/29/25
Full Review
Gabriel S
Releasing straight into television, Bastion 36 is the newest work from Director Olivier Marchal, best known for his crime thrillers, Marchal seems to be a fan of the premise of two or more cops in some tricky situation: Gangsters (2002) is about two undercover cops, 36th Precinct (2004) is also about two cops — this particular one has a name very similar to Bastion 36, right? — and, in fact, Marchal's entire portfolio as a Director has films with police officers or police squads, so he is not new to the genre.
In Bastion 36, it is no different. France's worst cop, Antoine Cerda, is everything you'd want to avoid in the police force: he's impulsive, self-destructive, selfish, and naive; And he likes to join underground fight clubs for money, so we can say that he is a bit corrupt as well. His only redeeming factor, though strange, is that he has a strong sense of right and wrong, whatever that means in his confused mind. When two of his former colleagues end up dead and one goes missing, he begins to investigate on his own after realizing that the police seem to be inert in the situation.
The movie starts with a strange chase scene where everything goes wrong and the conclusion is absurd. About 35 minutes into the film and I already wanted to give up and return it to the digital shelf, but out of sheer displeasure in wanting to watch something and the seriousness of the cinematography and themes, I persisted. I can't say that the film improved much later.
My main problem with Bastion 36 is Antoine. For a senior investigator accustomed to organized crime, Antoine looks more like an inexperienced jerk. His immaturity during the investigation is bothering and, even at the end of the film, I can't find any factors or facts that redeem him from his position as the worst cop to get involved in active corruption investigation and organized crime. Fateful, the conclusion of his character arc is at least adequate. I avoid extending these detractors to actor Victor Belmondo who, in general, does a decent job of acting.
The plot itself is a series of clichés of the genre and anyone who takes the slightest pleasure in crime thriller movies will solve the riddle and the events that unfold quickly. Bastion 36 doesn't innovate, plays simple with the plot in hand and unfolds an acceptable but already beaten story. The middle of the plot is interesting just enough to make us want to know what will happen to this whole mess, but deep down we know how it will end. Funningly enough, Bastion 36 adapts the novel “Flics Requiem” by Michel Tourcher, so I wonder how much better is that piece.
This is the kind of movie that works, but it's expendable, a forgettable movie, far from being someone's recommendation off of a hit-and-miss, pronto shot. Maybe if Bastion 36 appears on some list, those who have watched it would say "ok, it's an ok movie" and, in fact, they would be correct.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/29/25
Full Review
John B
Terrible ending...should have done something to reveal the turpitude of bosses behavior. It would have redeemed his emotionless, unthankful, and unredeamable behavior to his friends, collegues and girlfriend. Why he was helping his one friend and risking his life is hard to believe...unless he is transforming and becomes better...different ending could have done this.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
03/20/25
Full Review
Dominique c
Great entertaining movie with a unexpected twist at the very end. Oliver Marchal is a fantástic movie director Who produce again a thriller where actores maje it believable. I strongly recomand it
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/15/25
Full Review
ARNEZ C
It was pretty good actually the corrupt world is cops shown in a different light was crazy to see everyone lived 🤨
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/12/25
Full Review
SkyRo P
Squad 36 is an international film that delivers an authentic action-packed experience. The storyline follows a dedicated officer who is on a quest to unravel a complex mystery while navigating a town rife with gang violence. From start to finish, the film is a relentless thrill ride, featuring intense scenes of injury, murder, and the officer facing brutal confrontations that leave him bewildered.
While the film has its merits, I’m not inclined to watch it again, primarily due to its lengthy runtime, which can sometimes feel overwhelming. The narrative escalates as a formidable antagonist seizes control, menacing the locals and amplifying the tension.
The plot takes a gripping turn when the officer discovers that his superior is the mastermind behind the chaos, heightening the stakes even further. Although it’s not a bad movie, I found the mismatched dialogue and lip movements distracting, which limited my engagement. For me to revisit a film, I need to be deeply invested, and while the conclusion is certainly surprising and impactful, I’m not sure it’s enough to draw me back for a second viewing.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/08/25
Full Review
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