Sentinelle

French revenge-thriller Sentinelle is an action-packed Netflix film centred around actress Olga Kurylenko dealing with the theme of taking vengeance into one’s own hands. It tells the story of Klara (Kurylenko), a soldier who returns to France following a traumatic experience in war-torn Syria. She is assigned a quieter role with the Operation Sentinelle unit, which is an anti-terrorist group patrolling the streets of Nice looking for suspicious activity. Her mother and her sister Tania are excited to have her back home, but their warm presence fails to shake her out of her stupor.

Determined to help her sister readjust, Tania takes her sister to a nightclub so she can relax and let loose. As the night progresses, Tania meets a young man celebrating his birthday and Klara is drawn to a girl she dances with. They go their separate ways and Klara finds out the following day via a phone call from the hospital that her sister was raped and beaten. The protagonist then makes it her mission to find out who the attacker was and to punish him herself. Her fragile psychological condition makes her quest all the more challenging, but her efforts are unabated.

The feature goes for a tone of tension but it maintains the same mood from beginning to end, making it feel a little monotonous. While it delivers in terms of action, the plot remains flat and sticks to a very narrow scope. Kurylenko takes centre stage and is very committed to the role, but her character lacks a multifaceted portrayal since Klara is constantly on edge and never reveals any other aspect of herself other than her vigilant reservedness. Looking at the debilitating effects of PTSD gives the story substance, but the clichés and unrealistic twists prevent it from coming through powerfully.

Sentinelle is a decent action movie, but it fails to add anything memorable or striking to the genre.

Mersa Auda

Sentinelle is released on Netflix on 5^th March 2021.

Watch the trailer for Sentinelle here: