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The Night of the 12th

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The Night of the 12th

Released May 19, 2023

1h 55m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

67 Reviews

94%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In nearly every police precinct, detectives are inevitably confronted with a case that goes unsolved. The more heinous the crime, the more it haunts those whose duty it is solve it. Such is the dilemma for Yohan Vivès--a young, recently promoted police Captain--when he begins investigating the gruesome murder of a young women named Clara in the town of Grenoble. It's clear that the attack was pre-meditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. Vivés' team methodically digs through the details of Clara's life, uncovering her secrets in hopes of weeding out the killer. Certain their suspect is a scorned ex-lover, Vivés is confronted with another, more complicated question: which one? Based on a true crime book by Pauline Guéna, The Night of the 12th is a gritty mystery that's "both highly effective and brilliantly acted, where procedures and mindsets reveal a frayed society" (Cineuropa), posing uneasy questions about the male-dominated world of law enforcement, and their ability to handle the violent crimes routinely perpetrated against women victims.

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Critics Consensus

A grim, well-crafted thriller, The Night of the 12th takes a finely layered look at the toxic ripple effect of violence.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Dominik Moll’s compelling procedural is closer in tone to the Hughes brothers’ From Hell or David Fincher’s Zodiac, albeit without the celebrity of those cases.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 8, 2023

Full Review

Guy Lodge

Sight & Sound

[Night] assumes the perspective of the police without exempting them from its damning canvas; their cool investigative professionalism (and, in a sense, the film’s) registers as its own kind of complicity in a wretched, man’s-world status quo.

Dec 8, 2023

Full Review

Philip De Semlyen

Time Out

Somewhere beneath its enthralling depiction of obsessive police work is a cry from the heart against a broken system.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 8, 2023

Full Review

Petr Navovy

Pajiba

Treating the subject with the gravity that it deserves, it is an unsparing yet un-exploitative look at the rotten fabric of our society.

Jan 8, 2024

Full Review

Freda Cooper

The People's Movies

[The Night of the 12th] is a procedural that stays true to the original events by upturning the conventions of the genre. And the result is a gnarly, gloomy drama which exerts a tight grip from start to finish.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 8, 2023

Full Review

Nadine Whitney

FILMINK (Australia)

Not stylish, flattering, nor particularly visually engaging, but what it has in its favour is veracity; something that is lacking from so many police procedurals that indulge in the fantasy that crime is always solved, and bad people suffer consequences.

Rated: 15/20

Dec 8, 2023

Full Review

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Jeffrey M F

This was well-acted and well-done overall, but European films like this feel very slow for American viewers who are used to a much faster pace to our story telling.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/04/23

Full Review

Ghederick Eshmont

Spectacular crime procedural that avoids the Anglo-American psychological/obsessive troupes. Very adept at showing the bureaucratic nature of law enforcement.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/12/23

Full Review

Edward B

Good acting and plot ..however to rate it as a movie a 2/5 it isn't a formulaic story and rather a glimpse through the eyes of detectives in a case with all the usual leads and pitfalls...disappointed overall

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/13/25

Full Review

Stephen D

A slow French police procedural that focuses on characters. Don't expect action or the usual ending where they get their man. But an interesting insight on the peculiarities of French policing and the similarities.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/10/25

Full Review

Megan K

The ending was disappointing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/25

Full Review

Sarfaraz A

Dominik Moll co-wrote and directed The Night of the 12th (French: La Nuit du 12), a French mystery murder thriller. The film is based on a nonfiction book. The title's number indicates the date of murder. The film opens with an information about French police reporting 800 murder cases every year, 20% of which go unsolved; this crime is one of the 20%. The police chief and his colleague are investigating the murder of a 21-year-old girl who was burnt alive at night after coming from a friend's house. The film focuses on the personal lives of the investigation team members as well as their professional encounters with murder cases, some of which have stayed with them for years. It is largely narrative and conversation. Without a doubt, there are thriller and tense movements here. I remained immobile until the conclusion, waiting to find out who the killer was.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/11/24

Full Review

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The Night of the 12th: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In nearly every police precinct, detectives are inevitably confronted with a case that goes unsolved. The more heinous the crime, the more it haunts those whose duty it is solve it. Such is the dilemma for Yohan Vivès--a young, recently promoted police Captain--when he begins investigating the gruesome murder of a young women named Clara in the town of Grenoble. It's clear that the attack was pre-meditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. Vivés' team methodically digs through the details of Clara's life, uncovering her secrets in hopes of weeding out the killer. Certain their suspect is a scorned ex-lover, Vivés is confronted with another, more complicated question: which one? Based on a true crime book by Pauline Guéna, The Night of the 12th is a gritty mystery that's "both highly effective and brilliantly acted, where procedures and mindsets reveal a frayed society" (Cineuropa), posing uneasy questions about the male-dominated world of law enforcement, and their ability to handle the violent crimes routinely perpetrated against women victims.

Director: Dominik Moll
Producer: Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta, Simon Arnal
Screenwriter: Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Centre National du Cinéma et de L'image Animée, VOO, Cinéventure 7, Haut et Court, Canal+, Cinécap 5, Cinémage 16, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, RTBF, Wallimage, BE TV, O'Brother Distribution, Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral Belge, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Versus Production, Radio Télévision Belge Francophone, Doco Digital, Proximus, Ciné+
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): May 19, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2023
Box Office (Gross USA): $64.6K
Runtime: 1h 55m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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