| Lost Bullet | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Guillaume Pierret |
| Distributor: | Netflix |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
Lost Bullet (French: link=no|'''Balle perdue''') is a 2020 French action thriller film directed by Guillaume Pierret, written by Guillaume Pierret, Alban Lenoir and Kamel Guemra and starring Alban Lenoir, Nicolas Duvauchelle and Ramzy Bedia.[1] A sequel, Lost Bullet 2, was released by Netflix on November 10, 2022 and a third film has been announced.
Lino is a thief, ex-con and getaway driver who engineers cars for crime in southern France. Caught in an armoured Renault Clio which he drove through four walls trying to rob a store, he is imprisoned. He is put on day release by French police detective Charas (Ramzy Bedia) to work for the drug squad, engineering police cars to be able to catch drug runners at speed by ramming vehicles. Eventually Charas gets him a pardon and a garage to work in. The pace of the film suddenly changes when crooked cop Areski (Nicolas Duvauchelle) kills Charas, for reasons that are not entirely clear but emerge later - Areski's 'brigade' wants to skim off more money from the drug runners and Charas, suspicious of him, was out to shut them down. Areski frames Lino for the murder, being his sole interrogator in the police station and heading suspicion away from himself. Lino escapes the police station, where Areski left his cell door open (!) by fighting ten officers. We then learn that Charas's early 1990s Renault 21 2l turbo model was not destroyed as evidence, but hidden (?) by a drug runner employee, who turns out to be Lino's brother or adopted brother Quentin (Rod Paradot). The car contains the bullet Chara was shot with, which could be traced back to Areski's weapon as key evidence. A fellow officer Julia (Stéfi Celma) believes him, and we learn they are now, or once were, lovers (unclear). Areski tries to murder all witnesses to his own crime - Quentin, and various villains in a bloodbath, sparing his partner in crime Marco, who Lino beats up and handcuffs. Finally, Lino gets a night alone in a garage, equips the red Renault turbo with bullbars and rams, and takes on the corrupt police brigade, skewering a vehicle from behind on the highway and escaping after sending it flying. He fights Areski, manages to arrive at the police compound with the car aflame, and we cut to the bullet being extracted for forensics - and the game's up for Areski. Areski packs money in a bag and goes on the run, leaving his wife and daughter. Lino is severely injured but free of suspicion, and comforted by Julia.
The sequel, Lost Bullet 2 picks up from the same plot line, set 6 months later.
Lost Bullet was released on June 19, 2020. It was entirely filmed in the Mediterranean port city of Sète, Languedoc, France.
The film received a mixed reaction from some critics, who variously noted its wooden characters and poor dialogue. Although the action sequences was praised.[2] [3] Rodney Twelftree notes a single photo of the car could have exposed the true villain.[4]
On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 78% based on 9 reviews.[5]