Night Call (film)

Night Call
Theatrical release poster
FrenchLa nuit se traîne[1]
Directed byMichiel Blanchart
Screenplay by
Produced by
  • Michaël Goldberg[1]
  • Boris Van Gils[1]
Starring
CinematographySylvestre Vannoorenberghe[1]
Edited byMatthieu Jamet-Louis[1]
Music byTanguy Destable[1]
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Lumière (Belgium)[1]
  • Gaumont (France)[1]
Release dates
  • 18 June 2024 (2024-06-18) (Biarritz Film Festival)
  • 28 August 2024 (2024-08-28) (France)
  • 4 September 2024 (2024-09-04) (Belgium)
Running time
97 minutes[2]
Countries
LanguageFrench[3]
Budget$668,429[4]

Night Call (French: La nuit se traîne) is a 2024 action thriller film[5][6] directed by Michiel Blanchart in his feature directorial debut,[5] from a screenplay he co-wrote with Gilles Marchand. Set over the course of a night amid a Black Lives Matter protest in Belgium, a young locksmith is called for nocturnal assignment that plunges him into danger. It stars Jonathan Feltre, Natacha Krief, Jonas Bloquet and Romain Duris. The film is a co-production between Belgium and France.

Night Call was the opening film at the Biarritz Film Festival on 18 June 2024, where it had its world premiere in the International Competition section. It was released theatrically in France by Gaumont on 28 August 2024, and was released in Belgium by Lumière on 4 September 2024.[7] It won the André Cavens Award for Best Film from the Belgian Film Critics Association.[8]

Cast

Production

Night Call is the first feature film by Belgian director Michiel Blanchart,[5] who wrote the screenplay with the collaboration of French filmmaker Gilles Marchand.[7]

Filming

Principal photography took place in Brussels and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium for 35 days between March and April 2023.[10][11][12]

Release

Night Call was the opening film at the Biarritz Film Festival - Nouvelles Vagues in Biarritz, France on 18 June 2024,[3] where it had its world premiere in the International Competition section.[13]

The film was released theatrically in France by Gaumont on 28 August 2024, and was released in Belgium by Lumière on 4 September 2024.[1]

In May 2024, Magnet Releasing acquired North American distribution rights to the film.[14]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 21 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10.[15] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[16] AlloCiné, a French cinema site, gave the film an average rating of 3.4/5, based on a survey of 24 French reviews.[17]

Accolades

Year Award / Festival Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
2024 Belgian Film Critics Association Best Film Night Call Won [8]
Biarritz Film Festival Best International Film Nominated [13]
Audience Award Won

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Night Call by Michiel Blanchart". Cineuropa. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  2. ^ "La nuit se traîne | Visas et Classification". CNC.fr (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Night Call | Biarritz Film Festival". Biarritz Film Festival. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Night Call (2024)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Croll, Ben (22 June 2024). "Belgian Filmmaker Michiel Blanchart on His Action Thriller 'Night Call' Set Amid Black Lives Matter Protest in Belgium". Variety.
  6. ^ Lorcet, Camille (18 August 2024). ""La nuit se traîne" de Michiel Blanchart: recherche chaos désespérément". Chaos Reign (in French).
  7. ^ a b Keslassy, Elsa (28 August 2024). "Gaumont's Thriller 'Night Call' Sells Nearly Worldwide as it Opens in French Theaters (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  8. ^ a b "Le Prix Cavens attribué ex aequo à 'La nuit se traîne' et 'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat'". La Dernière Heure (in French). 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "La nuit se traîne - Dossier de presse" (PDF). Unifrance (in French). p. 16. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  10. ^ Engelen, Aurore (21 April 2023). "Michiel Blanchart shoots his feature debut, La nuit se traine". Cineuropa.
  11. ^ "La nuit se traine". Screen Brussels (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  12. ^ "La nuit se traine". ScriptOclap (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  13. ^ a b ""Night Call" wins Audience Award in Biarritz!". WB Images. 24 June 2024. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  14. ^ Grobar, Matt (23 May 2024). "Magnet Releasing Takes North America On Michiel Blanchart Thriller 'Night Call'". Deadline Hollywood.
  15. ^ "Night Call". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  16. ^ "Night Call". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  17. ^ "Critiques presse pour le film La nuit se traîne". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 22 October 2024.