MEA CULPA

North American Premiere • Action, thriller • France, 2014

DCP • Scope 2.35 • Dolby 5.1 • Color • 90 min

 

Directed by: Fred Cavayé

Written by: Fred Cavayé, Guillaume Lemans, Olivier Marchal

Cinematography: Danny Elsen

Film Editing: Benjamin Weill

Original Score: Cliff Martinez

Produced by: Jean-Baptiste Dupont & Cyril Colbeau-Justin(LGM Cinéma SAS), , Sidonie Dumas (Gaumont)

Cast: Vincent Lindon (Simon), Gilles Lellouche (Franck), Nadine Labaki (Alice), Gilles Cohen (Pastor), Max Baissette de Malglaive (Théo), Medi Sadoun (Jacquet), Tomi May (Oleg), Velibor Topic (Milan)

International Sales: Gaumont

US Distributor: Fox International Productions

 

In this bare-knuckled brawl of a thriller, Simon, a former Toulon cop, has been reduced to working as an armored car driver after a tragic mistake seven years earlier brought him to the brink of professional and personal destruction. Since then, he’s been slowly rebuilding his life under the sympathetic eye of his ex-partner Franck. But the time for amends comes to a decisive end when Simon’s son shoots to the top of a crime syndicate’s hit list after he witnesses a killing by chance. To save his son from stop-at-nothing thugs, Simon enlists the help of Franck, and together they punch, shoot, crash and bleed their way through an ever-escalating nightmare that can only end in death or redemption. With inventive set pieces including a breathless bullet train pursuit, Mea Culpa is the latest harvest from a growing field of hard-nosed action films coming from France.

 

Along with Pierre Morel (Taken, 2008), writer/director Fred Cavayé is often associated with a new breed of French filmmakers whose films have a distinct American appeal. In fact, Cavayé’s first feature, Anything For Her (2008) was remade in America as The Next Three Days (2010) starring Russell Crowe. The American remake rights to his second film, Point Blank (2010), a Paris-set action thriller, were also quickly spoken for after its release. For his third effort, Mea Culpa, Cavayé and long-time writing collaborator Guillaume Lemans worked from Olivier Marchal’s original idea to create a story that’s sure to satisfy the rising expectations of his fans, teaming the leads of his previous films, Vincent Lindon and Gilles Lellouche, as former partners in the police force.

 

 “French action maestro Fred Cavayé delivers another combo punch of kinetic thrills”.

Jordan Mintzer HOLLYWOOD REPORTER