I really wanted to say something positive about Netflix’s French action movie, Ad Vitam, other than that there are some really cool action sequences interspersed throughout the 90-odd minute runtime. Unfortunately, the movie turned out to be such a generic, unnecessarily convoluted mess, it falls into the category of extremely forgettable Netflix ventures. The basic plotline is pretty simple and follows a former member of a highly trained tactical unit unwittingly finding himself and his family targeted by the very system he served, which has him questioning the basis of the nationalistic ideology he’d pledged himself to. But the way Ad Vitam goes about exploring the premise by spending a major chunk of the runtime repeatedly highlighting the bond among brothers in arms and delaying the action till the final showdown—which is nothing short of a dumpster fire, to say the least—makes it a chore to finish the movie in a single sitting. Expecting a plot twist or hidden narrative element to increase the thrill factor, which could have otherwise saved the movie, would be in vain because there aren’t any. Before jumping into Ad Vitam’s story, I just want to point out that its title translates to “for life” which refers to the protagonist’s unmatched patriotism for his country.
Spoilers Ahead
Home Invasion
Ad Vitam begins with Franck Lazarev, a former member of France’s elite tactical intervention unit, GIGN, finding himself and his heavily pregnant wife, Leo, his former colleague in the same unit, in deep peril after their apartment gets vandalized on a couple of occasions. At present, Franck, who works as a maintenance crew member in constructions, barely manages to survive an attempt made on his life, and panicking out of his wits for his wife’s safety, he returns to his home to check up on Leo. Franck spends sleepless nights on apartment rooftops, staying vigilant and anticipating the arrival of unwanted company, and it is quite clear that he is hiding the truth from his wife. However, the fact that he chooses not to disclose what he knows with her makes the situation all the more troubling for her.
One day, as Franck and Leo are having this argument regarding his desperate attempt to maintain secrecy, a group of trained armed combatants breaks into their apartment in search of something Franck was never supposed to have. The husband-wife duo fend off the attackers for quite a long while, until they are finally outnumbered, and Leo is kidnapped while Franck is framed for the murder of one of the members of the assailants group. A look back to the past reveals the truth Franck is keeping closely guarded, which puts his family in mortal danger in the first place.
What Was The Truth That Put Franck and Leo In Danger?
In a flashback sequence that takes viewers to a decade earlier, Franck’s tenure as a decorated member of GIGN is highlighted. Following in the footsteps of his father, who served in GIGN with honor and eventually sacrificed his life for his country, Franck took great pride in joining the intervention unit. Upon becoming a member of the squad by completing the arduous training regime, Franck is given his father’s GIGN badge by his superiors, and on the back is inscribed ‘Ad Vitam’ or ‘for life.’ Serving his nation is a lifelong duty for people like Franck and his father, no matter whether they are on active duty or not.
Franck and Leo fell for each other during their time in GIGN, and the duo became great friends with Nico, an elite marksman in the squad, and his wife, Menon. Nico and Menon, who were also neighbors of Franck and Leo at that point in time, shared a familial bond with them. Franck never considered it to be possible for people in their line of work to have a normal family life, and considered conventional family ties to be a vulnerability that can be exploited by their adversaries. Leo, who was keen on starting a new life with Franck, didn’t want to have children for the same reason as well. However, Nico, who was a family man as he and Menon were parents to two sons, offered the couple a new perspective. Nico considered family to be a source of strength, as with them by his side, he can make more rational, calculated decisions without risking it all with a nothing-to-lose attitude. The responsibility people bear for their family provides a sense of direction and composure, which Nico thought to be an advantage instead of a vulnerability. During this time, Franck had taken Ben, a highly skilled new recruit of GIGN, under his wing. Ben, an orphan who faced isolation due to his religion and identity as an immigrant, had found a family in Franck, Nico, and Leo—on whom he could lean for support.
The narrative shifts to a year before the present timeline, Nico, Ben, and Franck’s final mission together, where their unit were sent to assess an ongoing robbery situation in a luxury hotel. Before Franck led his unit to the mission, Leo had called him to inform him that she was pregnant with their child, but Franck was too busy with the situation at hand and had hung up on his wife before she could reveal the news to him. During the mission, Franck could have waited for local police to arrive with backup and then proceeded, but he made a judgment call and decided to go through with the operation with GIGN handling the situation alone. Two armed thieves/robbers involved in the situation were killed, but while neutralizing their targets, Nico received a fatal gunshot, while Ben’s injury resulted in him having to quit GIGN. It was devastating enough for Franck that his decision led to the death of his dear friend, and due to his rash action as a leader, he was excommunicated from GIGN by his superiors. However, judging from the way the ‘thieves’ appeared to be trained while engaging with GIGN, and the media actively tried to trivialize the situation, both Franck and Ben were quite certain that something was being covered up.
Franck was surprised but elated after learning about Leo’s pregnancy and that she wants to raise a family with him, following which she quit the GIGN, and the duo tried to turn a new page in their lives. In the meanwhile, he was tormented by the fact that Nico’s family had to cope with his absence, especially how his elder son held a grudge against Franck, whom he considered partially responsible for his father’s passing. At this point, Franck was determined to uncover the truth behind Nico’s death, which he believed was being hushed up by higher officials, as he owed that much to his friend’s grieving family. The badge of his father, which Franck had worn that day, had bloodstains from one of the ‘thieves’ at the crime scene, and upon having it examined, Franck learned that the assailant was a member of DGSI—the French elite security service. The truth is, two DGSI agents were sent by their commanding chief to extract intel from the hotel—where a former Navy SEAL/CIA operative, John Brennan, was finalizing an arms deal with the Australian government. This DGSI agent duo had killed Brennan and one of his associates after their cover was blown and they were trying to escape from the hotel under the guise of thieves when Franck led his unit to the hotel and killed them. As a leader of an elite intervention squad, Franck was simply doing his job and had no way of knowing the truth about the situation. It might seem that Franck’s removal from GIGN could have been influenced by his actions to take down DGSI members during a confidential high-profile mission. But now that Franck had learned the truth, he was not going to keep quiet, even though Ben had advised him not to challenge those in power. Franck considered himself responsible for the decision that resulted in Nico’s death, and the least he could do is share the truth about his death with his family and the world. Franck had contacted a journalist and wanted to anonymously pass on the information about what really happened in the hotel shootout, and even though the journalist promised him the secrecy he wanted, the news eventually reached the higher authorities. Franck’s intel will not only put the French government in a precarious situation by muddling their international relations, it will also paint them in a bad light in front of the people who dedicate their lives to the service of the state on a regular basis. To stop Franck and extract the evidence he had with him, the elite crew of secret service agents, led by a sadistic Agent Vanaken, was sent—who abducted Leo and forced Franck to negotiate a deal by providing the evidence in exchange for his wife and unborn child’s life.
Was Franck Able To Share The Truth?
Franck was unable to find the evidence after returning to his apartment, which was already being swarmed by police at this point. He went to Ben to seek his help, who advised him to forge evidence by taking a separate badge and smearing it with blood, and the duo headed to the rendezvous point where the exchange was supposed to take place. Ben secured a position while Vernon took the evidence with him, only to instruct his operatives to kill both Leo and Franck to get rid of possible loose ends. Also, Vanaken made sure to make the incident look like Franck, a disgraced former GIGN member, had killed his wife and taken his own life.
However, the possibility of Ben’s intervening in their act never crossed Vanaken’s mind (elite secret service agent indeed), and Ben was able to make a timely rescue by killing all the operatives and began driving away with Leo and Franck. Vanaken and his squad began a prolonged pursuit, and after Leo got wounded during a gunfight, Franck decided to go on on his own to lead his pursuers away from his pregnant wife and friend. Ben continued driving to the nearest hospital while Franck almost went through a triathlon competition of sorts—jumping from a moving SUV, riding an off-road bike, and paragliding to intercept Vanaken and his crew at the exact spot where they had cornered Ben and Leo outside the hospital. Ben too sustained a gunshot, and Franck was able to take care of most of the pursuers and beat Vanaken to a pulp when his own GIGN comrades arrived to handle the situation. With nowhere to run to, Frank admitted his wife to the hospital and surrendered himself at the end, and Ben was rescued just in time before his injuries could make the situation any worse for him.
In Ad Vitam’s ending, Franck is seen incarcerated and awaiting trial, while Leo is revealed to have become a mother to a beautiful daughter—who fortunately remained unharmed despite her mother going through hell and back. As it turns out, Franck was unable to obtain the evidence as Leo had taken it upon herself to secure it when Vanaken’s agents broke into their house, and now she uses the evidence to plead innocence for her husband during the trial. Not only did it allow Franck to avoid getting wrongly incriminated, but it also exposed the pathetic machinations of the state, which uses its own citizens, dedicated members of the armed forces, as exploitable assets. As the movie comes to an end, Franck and Leo are able to share the truth about Nico’s demise through revealing the evidence, and following the advice of their late friend, they are prepared to begin a peaceful family life with their daughter. Ben, who has recovered from the injuries he sustained, watches the couple from afar, knowing he was able to save the only ones whom he considered family after all. It remains unknown whether such a monumental expose, Franck, Leo, and Ben will be able to live a normal life like they wanted to. The French government might still be on their pursuit to teach the trio a lesson for showing the true colors of people in positions of power, which means they have to go on yet another battle against their state to protect their family—possibly in a sequel venture.