Fantastic Fest 2011

Two criminals surgically strike, quickly blockading a car to extract a black bag full of drugs from the trunk. All goes perfectly according to plan until one of the couriers makes a break for it, escaping the scene after catching a glimpse of one of the attackers. The next shot opens with our two attackers on duty at the police station. Apparently a cops wages aren't enough to make ends meet, and Vincent and Yilmaz have devised a scheme to utilize police intelligence reports to target and then rob from Paris's drug kingpins. Unfortunately now that kingpin knows the score. He wants his gigantic bag of coke back, or Vincent's son will be killed.

All this action is briskly set in place in the first 10 minutes of the film, leaving the remaining 80 minutes for Frédéric Jardin to set up a thoroughly riveting edge-of-your-seat complex game of cat and mouse. Kingpin Jose Marciano has Vincent's son held hostage deep within the recesses of his labyrinthine nightclub. All Vincent needs to do is arrive at the club, return the drugs intact and he leaves with his son. It seems simple enough, but also trolling this nightclub are cops from the drug investigation squad who are investigating Vincent's robbery; the owners of the drugs who are beginning to suspect Marciano is ripping them off; and Vincent's partners in crime who aren't wild about his plan to give back their share of the loot, regardless of his son's eminent danger.

Surround that already confusing cast of characters with some 2000 or more party kids, packed to the gills, dancing and partying to a heady, undulating non-stop house beat. All Vincent wants to do is get in and get out, but simplicity is not part of the agenda. His "Sleepless Night" consists of heart-pounding chases followed by brutal exchanges of fisticuffs followed by panicked improvisation…and then press repeat. (Tim League)