Vincent can be a well-respected cop, as well as a devoted husband and father. But below the area of his idyllic lifetime, Vincent is involved with a very dangerous group connected with gangsters and drug traders. When Vincent and their partner are caught stealing an enormous quantity of cocaine coming from a powerful drug lord, the darker side associated with Vincent's life threatens in order to destroy his family along with career. In a race contrary to the clock, Vincent must return the drugs to save his son's life.
Jardin wastes no time easing in to the action, as the movie opens on police partners Vincent (Sisley) and Manuel (Laurent Stocker) intercepting any cocaine hand-off in what becomes an auto chase and bullet-laden challenge. We learn that the cops are preparing to keep the stash intended for themselves, but when mob boss/nightclub operator Marciano (Serge Riaboukine) catches wind on the double-cross, he kidnaps Vincent's boy Thomas (Samy Seghir). The ensuing race against time for it to rescue his child, which ends up involving other cops in the force (among these the lovely Lizzie Brocher? as Vignali) happens almost entirely within the bowels in the nightclub.
A single-location film is really a feat unto itself, but Jardin makes a couple incredibly smart decisions: First, he treats the location being a character, introducing us to their various components – returning rooms, kitchens, walk-in freezers, overhead crawl spaces, bathrooms, pool halls, dance floors – and builds on the importance, eventually involving them from the action. Second, he utilizes a shrill rating, the duality of blown-out along with shadowed lighting, handheld camera techniques and cramped set pieces for you to mount the building tension that has a sense of disquieting claustrophobia. The director was thus intent on authenticity when it found a feeling of suffocation that she refused to open in place walls or build special set pieces for your camera to fit straight into; every location is real, and every shot is set up within it. No Hollywood tricks are applied here, and it makes every one of the difference.
In addition to Jardin's deft perform behind the camera, Sisley's devotion to his role – the emotional and physical advancement of his character – will be palpable. Whether he's breaking down inside a stairwell, beating a man in the back room or driving during a high-speed pursuit, Sisley is giving 110 %. Plus, he does his personal choreography and stunts. Watch your backs, Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Daniel Craig and Corp. – this guy could be the truth, and he's nipping your heels.
Sleepless Night is some of those thoroughly satisfying, endlessly entertaining and entirely adrenaline-inducing films that grips on rather than lets go. There are echoes of Hitchcock films, The Raid, Die Hard and Get within its frames (although Jardin would show you he was primarily inspired by South Korean cinema like Oldboy), but it does themselves justice by proving to become fully developed standalone part of cinema. Don't wait for the remake to get this one on the radar: Jardin's version of Sleepless Night could be the original, and an instant traditional.
Watch Sleepless Night (2012)
