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Number One on Netflix is a weekly spotlight on whatever is currently the most popular thing on the world’s most popular streaming service. Sometimes it’ll be a movie. Sometimes it’ll be a TV show. Whatever it is, a lot of people are clearly watching, and we’ll try to understand why with a quick review. Today, we’re looking at the French action thriller Ad Vitam.
Franck (Guillaume Canet) is a cop with some real special skills, who met his wife Léo (Stéphane Caillard) when they were both trainees in France’s gendarmerie. 10 years into their relationship, Léo’s pregnant, and the happy couple are looking forward to welcoming their firstborn… until, that is, armed men break into their home, kidnap Léo, and frame Franck for some crimes. Now Franck’s on the run, trying to stay away from the authorities while save the woman he loves.
It’s a pretty straightforward set-up for a conspiracy thriller, one with a clear emotional hook, which seems like a big part of why Ad Vitam (Latin for “To life”) has secured a solid place on the Netflix Top 10 globally since its release last week. Yes, it’s a French thriller, but its international reach is enabled by the dubbing available in 19 different languages (I sampled the English dub, and it was pretty solid as these things go).
Really, you could remake this movie tomorrow in English with Liam Neeson as the lead — though, considering Neeson’s age, maybe it’d be better if it was a daughter who was pregnant. There’s some solid action throughout, with sequences that vaguely approach James Bond in their silliness. You know those powered paragliders, which are basically just a giant fan attached to a parachute and a chair? Towards the end of the film, Franck makes a daring escape on one.
Ad Vitam‘s most notable flaw is the way it hops back in time for an extended flashback to Franck and Léo’s days in training. The initial set-up of the first 15 minutes is compelling enough to tolerate the… (checks notes) forty-five minutes of flashbacks and set-up that follow, but the movie never really recovers from that loss of momentum. It’s reminiscent of an often-abused trope — opening a movie or episode with an extreme action sequence, before flashing back to “48 hours earlier” to set up why this was all happening — but not particularly well executed.
At around the hour mark, though, the full scope of the conspiracy becomes clear, and the remaining 30 minutes manage to keep the action flowing, largely thanks to the commitment of Guillaume Canet, a well established actor, writer, and director in France. He makes for a sympathetic lead, with a face that’s got a bit of Patrick Dempsey’s twinkle (if that does anything for you). There aren’t any real breakouts from the supporting cast, though Stéphane Caillard does notably seem pretty convincing as a woman in her third trimester who can still kick some serious ass.
While Ad Vitam might not be the best Netflix has to offer, it certainly feels a little more fresh than the platform’s other big release this weekend, the Jamie Foxx/Cameron Diaz action comedy Back in Action. (The first 15 minutes are painfully paint-by-numbers — a 10-year-old could predict each plot beat before it comes.)
Ad Vitam ultimately feels like it benefits from a quirk of any ranking like this: The curiosity factor that comes with a potentially unfamiliar title residing in the top slot. “Why is that movie I’ve never heard of before number one on the list? Guess I should watch it to find out,” the casual viewer thinks, participating in a self-perpetuating cycle that keeps the movie’s placement at the top secure.
That said, its success in the rankings — according to Tudum, it’s received 17.1 million views this week, and has been the #1 movie not just in America, but in 30 other countries — does reaffirm Netflix’s increasing reach as a truly global platform. Yes, the other movies on the Top 10 in the US are all American, including the Despicable Me films, Rush Hour and its sequel, and the Nicolas Cage meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, but at the end of the day, when you’re on your couch, a good story is a good story.
Ad Vitam is streaming now on Netflix.
English (US) · 