The Night of the 12th

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The Night of the 12th

2023

1h 55m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

67 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In nearly every police precinct, detectives are inevitably confronted with a case that goes unsolved. The more heinous the crime, the more it haunts those whose duty it is solve it. Such is the dilemma for Yohan Vivès--a young, recently promoted police Captain--when he begins investigating the gruesome murder of a young women named Clara in the town of Grenoble. It's clear that the attack was pre-meditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. Vivés' team methodically digs through the details of Clara's life, uncovering her secrets in hopes of weeding out the killer. Certain their suspect is a scorned ex-lover, Vivés is confronted with another, more complicated question: which one? Based on a true crime book by Pauline Guéna, The Night of the 12th is a gritty mystery that's "both highly effective and brilliantly acted, where procedures and mindsets reveal a frayed society" (Cineuropa), posing uneasy questions about the male-dominated world of law enforcement, and their ability to handle the violent crimes routinely perpetrated against women victims.

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Critics Consensus

A grim, well-crafted thriller, The Night of the 12th takes a finely layered look at the toxic ripple effect of violence.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Dec 8, 2023

4/5

Dominik Moll’s compelling procedural is closer in tone to the Hughes brothers’ From Hell or David Fincher’s Zodiac, albeit without the celebrity of those cases.

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Guy Lodge

Sight & Sound

Dec 8, 2023

[Night] assumes the perspective of the police without exempting them from its damning canvas; their cool investigative professionalism (and, in a sense, the film’s) registers as its own kind of complicity in a wretched, man’s-world status quo.

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Philip De Semlyen

Time Out

Dec 8, 2023

4/5

Somewhere beneath its enthralling depiction of obsessive police work is a cry from the heart against a broken system.

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Christos Tsiolkas

The Saturday Paper

Aug 21, 2026

It’s shocking that its combination of enervation and smugness has been met with such uncritical acceptance. I can’t help thinking that critics are responding to the grafted-on sexual politics rather than to the film itself.

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Petr Navovy

Pajiba

Jan 8, 2024

Treating the subject with the gravity that it deserves, it is an unsparing yet un-exploitative look at the rotten fabric of our society.

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Freda Cooper

The People's Movies

Dec 8, 2023

4/5

[The Night of the 12th] is a procedural that stays true to the original events by upturning the conventions of the genre. And the result is a gnarly, gloomy drama which exerts a tight grip from start to finish.

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Jeffrey M F

Jul 4, 2023

This was well-acted and well-done overall, but European films like this feel very slow for American viewers who are used to a much faster pace to our story telling.

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Ghederick Eshmont

Jun 12, 2023

Spectacular crime procedural that avoids the Anglo-American psychological/obsessive troupes. Very adept at showing the bureaucratic nature of law enforcement.

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Jenaro V

@JenaroV Apr 14, 2026

Un policial que pierde fuerza apenas en la pantalla de inicio pero que aun así logra impactarte, se siente muy real en todo momento y su mensaje llega.

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Alain E

@AlainE Jan 27, 2026

It fails to lift off. Since the case was not solved, for the movie to succeed, what we are watching should be more compelling. Otherwise, filming paint dry would make a successful documentary. After watching Only the animals by the same director, I gave this film another try and I liked it. It is more a psychological study of human motivation and less a crime story, although the main plot elements is an unsolved murder. As a result I doubled my assessment to 4 stars. Moll is definitely a director to follow.

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Oliver E

@RT49839155 Nov 22, 2025

It was a good film overall, but the ending felt quite disappointing. The moment where he tells the judge "I think I’m falling in love with you" was a very strange creative choice. I guess it somewhat ties into the underlying themes around men and women (?), but it still felt out of place and odd.

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Edward B

@RT61751304 May 13, 2025

Good acting and plot ..however to rate it as a movie a 2/5 it isn't a formulaic story and rather a glimpse through the eyes of detectives in a case with all the usual leads and pitfalls...disappointed overall

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Synopsis

In nearly every police precinct, detectives are inevitably confronted with a case that goes unsolved. The more heinous the crime, the more it haunts those whose duty it is solve it. Such is the dilemma for Yohan Vivès--a young, recently promoted police Captain--when he begins investigating the gruesome murder of a young women named Clara in the town of Grenoble. It's clear that the attack was pre-meditated, and the violent nature of the crime suggests revenge. Vivés' team methodically digs through the details of Clara's life, uncovering her secrets in hopes of weeding out the killer. Certain their suspect is a scorned ex-lover, Vivés is confronted with another, more complicated question: which one? Based on a true crime book by Pauline Guéna, The Night of the 12th is a gritty mystery that's "both highly effective and brilliantly acted, where procedures and mindsets reveal a frayed society" (Cineuropa), posing uneasy questions about the male-dominated world of law enforcement, and their ability to handle the violent crimes routinely perpetrated against women victims.

Director: Dominik Moll
Producer: Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta, Simon Arnal
Screenwriter: Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Centre National du Cinéma et de L'image Animée, VOO, Cinéventure 7, Haut et Court, Canal+, Cinécap 5, Cinémage 16, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, RTBF, Wallimage, BE TV, O'Brother Distribution, Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral Belge, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Versus Production, Radio Télévision Belge Francophone, Doco Digital, Proximus, Ciné+
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): May 19, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2023
Box Office (Gross USA): $64.6K
Runtime: 1h 55m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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