Police (2020)

Directed by: Anne Fontaine | 98 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Virginie Efira, Omar Sy, Grégory Gadebois, Payman Maadi, Elisa Lasowski, Emmanuel Barrouyer, Anne-Pascale Clairembourg

‘Police’ is an actor’s film, directed by the toppers Virginie Efira (‘Un amour impossible’) and Omar Sy (‘Intouchables’). The two officers have been having an affair for some time, while she is married and has a toddler at home. We get to see the daily grind of police work, and Virginie becomes pregnant with Aristide (Sy), an event that is announced with great control by the woman, who has forgotten the pill and wants an abortion.

It takes a long time before a decisive plot development is announced. ‘Police’ is mostly shadow boxing between the two amorous colleagues, without there seeming to be any reason to break through their official private life for this relationship. People simply wait until things seem or prove impossible on their own; director Fontaine makes no attempt to insert a message of tragic love agony.

You don’t have to, man is not that rigid, and not always bad of intention. Rarely actually, it’s the events that pile up, sometimes not even. A good choice from Fontaine with its top actors, who can handle such things well. The situation needs more than gentle conversation between secret lovers, and what exactly remains a question. Until the deportation of an illegal asylum seeker (Maadi) raises orphans questions about the loyalty of the two.

The film shoots a number of times; a decent third colleague (Gadebois) gets too big a role, and now and then Fontaine slows down the settlement with moody music and gloomy, non-descript stares. It is Efira who, as in all her films, convinces; in the end, her portrayal saves the film. Partly, because from a plot point of view, the lingering storyline with the Chechen in the back seat of the police car remains meager. Too skinny for a feature film.