Mea Culpa - DVD

Content: After drunkenly causing a serious accident that killed three people, police officer Simon (Vincent Lindon) has not only lost his job. His marriage to Alice (Nadine Labaki) has also broken down as a result of the tragedy. Since his release from prison, he has been working for a private security firm. Otherwise, he completely isolates himself from his environment. Only his son Theo (Max Baisette Malglaive) keeps him afloat a little. But when the boy witnesses a murder by the Serbian mafia, Simon is shaken out of his lethargy. Together with his best friend and former partner Franck (Gilles Lellouche) he wants to do everything to protect his boy and find the killers before they can harm Theo. Franck doesn't hesitate for a second to take on mob boss Milan (Velibor Topic) to protect Theo. For he, too, carries a heavy guilt that he has kept from Simon until now...

With Mea Culpa, director Fred Cavayé has staged a tense thriller about guilt and atonement that captivates with its atmospheric imagery from the very first scene. Even if the characters are drawn a bit clichéd and due to the rather short running time they are given little space to develop, especially Simon and Franck have become extremely exciting characters due to the strong performances of Vincent Lindon and Gilles Lellouche, for whose fate one is definitely interested as a viewer. The story is clearly structured and doesn't dwell on trivialities for long. Although many set pieces seem somehow familiar, Cavayé succeeds very well in building up an intense tension that culminates in a successful and in some ways quite surprising finale.

Packing chases, a fearsome villain, stirring camerawork and the good actors make this thriller absolutely worth watching despite some very conventional aspects. It may not be the most original representative of the genre. Also, the script could have used a little more depth, especially in terms of character sketching. But for an entertaining, thrilling DVD evening Mea Culpa is just the right fodder despite some minor weaknesses. And at least the finale has a certain sustainability, which makes this film not only for lovers of French suspense cinema absolutely worth watching!

Picture + Sound: Image and sound quality of the film are on a good level. Even though the picture seems a tiny bit washed out here and there, the overall image sharpness is convincing even when showing smaller details. The colouring is very atmospheric and there is hardly anything to complain about in terms of contrast matching either. The audio, which is in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, presents itself pleasantly powerful and has good surround effects to offer, especially in the more action-packed moments. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is a Making of (approx. 39:18 min.) worth seeing, which looks pleasantly commercial-free on the shooting and shows how little things like rain or too early flying away pigeons can mess up the shooting schedule. A really worthwhile documentary and a good addition to the film.

Conclusion:Mea Culpa is a tense guilt-and-atonement thriller that, despite its fairly tight running time and pleasant pace, finds enough time to give the story room to unfold. As a result, the perhaps not particularly original but nonetheless surprising twist at the end works quite effectively. Entertaining European suspense cinema, which presents itself on the DVD in good picture and sound quality and also has a worth seeing making of on board. For this there is a very clear: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp